The Stuff of Dreams - The Complete Collection
by Ari Moriarty
Summary: Ten years after the defeat of Izanami, a new and unexplained evil force is taking lives in Inaba. Yu and his closest friends are forced to team up with an unrepentant and newly-freed Adachi to save the world, overcome their fears, and ultimately pave the way fora new beginning. (Multiple stories reposted as a collection, for your reading convenience.)
1. Part One: Birthday Dreams

Title: **Birthday Dreams**  
Category: Games » Persona Series  
Author: Ari Moriarty  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T  
Genre: Family/Friendship  
Published: 08-13-13, Updated: 08-20-13  
Chapters: 3, Words: 5,624

**Chapter 1: One: May 16, 2011**

**Author's Note: **So, it was brought to my attention by certain readers that Adachi and Nanako don't have a strong enough relationship in Persona 4 to justify some of her decisions in **Dreamgirl.**

No, I disagree. They totally did. Watch, I'm going to prove it to you over the course of a few short stories about birthdays!

**One – May 16, 2011**

Six year old Nanako Dojima woke up that morning with a plan and a fiercely determined feeling in her heart. Today, she told herself, was going to be an absolutely wonderful day, and she was going to make sure of it.

Jumping out of bed, she found her favorite dress and her favorite ribbons, and hurried down the stairs. Dad, of course, was already gone. Nanako reminded herself not to be disappointed about that. After all, it was a busy time for Dad, who was trying to catch a killer and save the town! Breakfast just wasn't as important as that other stuff.

Nanako made some quick eggs for herself, and put the rest in the fridge, just in case Dad thought that breakfast was important again tomorrow.

School that day dragged on. Normally, Nanako really enjoyed school, and she loved the way her pretty teacher, Miss Endo, made everything seem fun and make sense at the same time. The other kids in Nanako's class were friendly and fun to talk to, and that made school even more of a treat.

Today, however was different. Today, Nanako was on a mission. School only made her feel impatient.

After school, she ran to the store as fast as she could, with all the money in her pocket that she'd saved in her piggy bank since May 16th the year before. She shook it out into the store clerk's hand, and he helped her count it carefully.

"You have 672 yen," the store clerk told her, handing the money back. "That's a lot of money! You must be pretty careful with money."

Nanako beamed at him. "Every time I find a penny, I put it in my bank," she told him proudly. "And every time Dad lets me have a little bit of money for candy, or for treats, I save that and put it in my bank, too." _Six hundred and seventy two! _she thought. _That's a really big number! Wow! I'm so glad!_

The store clerk turned around, and gestured to rows and rows of delicious looking bakery items. "Well," he asked, smiling, "What's it gonna be, little lady? You sure you want to spend all of that money on sweets?"

Nanako was sure. Right in the center of all the other goodies, standing up tall, proud, and beautiful like a queen, was the biggest, prettiest frosted birthday cake, with strawberries all layered on top. "Mmhmm," she told the clerk, nodding. "I want to buy that one!" She pointed at the birthday cake.

The clerk followed her finger with his eyes, and his face fell. "Sorry, sweetheart," he said, shaking his head. "That one's a little more than you can afford…its 700 yen."

Nanako blinked at him. "I…I don't have enough?" she asked, frowning. Six hundred and seventy two had sounded like it must be enough to buy almost anything. "Are you sure?"

The store clerk nodded sadly, and Nanako bit her lip. _Well, _she thought reasonably, _there are lots of other cakes. I'll just get one that doesn't cost so much._

Still, that one pretty, expensive cake looked so perfect standing there in the midst of all the other almost-delicious looking sweets. Nanako sighed.

"It's for my Dad's birthday," said Nanako." Um…what's the best cake that I can get for six hundred and seventy two yen?"

"Huh? Oh, for your Dad? Oh, I see." The clerk looked surprised, then glanced back at the row of cakes, and frowned. He sat for a moment, then shrugged, laughed under his breath, and pulled a few yen out of his own pocket.

"Well," he told Nanako, "Tell you what. I'll give you the cake, okay?"

Nanako's eyes went wide. "R-really?" she asked, almost afraid to hope.

The clerk held up a cautionary finger. "But," he told her, "you have to make me a promise. You have to promise that you're going to make your Dad's birthday very, very special for him, okay?"

Nanako nodded solemnly. "I promise!" she announced. "Yeah! Of course!"

Grinning, the clerk reached down the cake for her.

She would have run all the way to the police station, except for the fact that the cake was heavy, and she definitely did not want to drop it. It was a long, slow, careful walk to the bus stop instead. When the bus arrived at the station, Nanako wondered if she should try hiding the cake. She attempted to put it behind her back, but that made her fee unstable, and again she was afraid to drop it.

Luckily for Nanako, while she was standing in the lobby, trying to figure out what to do with her purchase, Detective Adachi strolled up, looking bored. He started at the sight of Nanako, and then hurried over to her, just in time to catch the cake as it fell, finally, out of her hands.

"Whoa, what's this?" asked Adachi. "Oh, uh, I mean, Hi, Nanako-chan. Are you looking for your Dad?"

Nanako nodded. "Thank you, Adachi-san," she murmured politely, letting him place the cake down on top of a counter where it was slightly more stable. "Is he here? I have a present for him!"

"I think he's out on patrol," mused Adachi. "But he'll be back soon, probably. Wait, a present? Is it a special occasion?" Adachi was giving the cake a very hungry look. Nanako carefully interposed herself between it and him. _No cake for you, _she thought. _Not until Dad gets back. That's how birthdays are supposed to work! Sorry…_

"Yes," she said. "It's his birthday! Didn't he tell you?"

Adachi scratched his head with two fingers. "Not that I can remember," he replied. "His birthday? You know, sometimes that's a thing that adults don't like to talk about. You know, because it means they're getting older, and…that's bad."

Nanako wrinkled her nose. "Why is it bad?" As far as she knew, getting older was something to celebrate. It was something that happened every year, and the celebration was something exciting, to look forward to.

"Uh, good question," muttered Adachi, frowning. "I guess because every time you get older, you get a little closer to the end, right?"

"The…end?" asked Nanako. "You mean…dying?"

Alarm bells began ringing in Nanako's mind. _How old is Dad? _she asked herself. _Forty one? Forty two? He's forty two, I think? Does that mean he's very old? No, forty two isn't very old. Old Mrs. Tatsumi and Old Mr. Daidara are both a lot older than that, and they're just fine._

A horrible, frightened little voice in the back of Nanako's mind, however, added, _But Mom was even younger than Dad when she died. You can be young and die, too._

"Uh, hey, wait, that's…that's not what I meant!" insisted Adachi frantically. He must have seen the upset look on Nanako's face, because his forehead was starting to sweat now, as he shook his head furiously, hold his hands out in front of him in a gesture of denial. "I mean, there's nothing wrong with Dojima-san. Hey, he's one of the healthiest guys I've ever met! He's got more energy than most of the newer guys put together! So, uh, don't worry, he's not…I mean he's not old. He just…uh, jeez, this is kinda complicated."

Nanako did feel a little bit better, even if Adachi was starting to turn red in the face. _Yes, _she decided. _Dad isn't old, and he isn't sick. _"Do you think he won't like the cake?" she asked.

Adachi breathed out a little sigh of relief. "He'll love it," he assured her. "I mean, hey, it comes from his only daughter, right? What's not to love? Oh, why don't you come wait at his desk until he gets back? Doesn't seem right to leave you standing here, cause…honestly, it could be a while. Sometimes it is."

As they walked back together through the station, with Adachi now holding the cake.

"Do you have paper?" asked Nanako. "I can draw a card to go with the cake. It can be from both of us, if you want!"

"That's pretty nice of you, Nanako-chan." Adachi grinned at her. "I, uh…I've got paper, but then I've just got a pencil."

"Oh." Nanako knew she should have bought some more crayons or colors at the store. _But I used all my money on the cake!_ she reminded herself.

"A pencil is fine," she agreed, smiling back.

Adachi looked at her for a moment, sighed, glanced around the room, and then called out, "Hey! Does anybody here have any crayons?"

Several station employees looked up from their desks, and frowned disapprovingly at Adachi for interrupting their work.

"Yeesh," he muttered "I was just asking…"

Two people from nearby desk donated red and blue colored pens, and Nanako set to work on her card while Adachi apparently did some paperwork. She had to use four pieces of paper, because she kept messing up and wanting to start over. When she accidentally made an ugly flower on her fourth try, she didn't like the idea of asking for yet another blank sheet, and frowned unhappily down at the mistake, wondering if there was something else that she could turn the ugly flower into.

"It's no use," she sighed to herself. "I'm bad at art…" _Next to the pretty cake, _she thought, _the card is going to look so bad. It's going to spoil the whole birthday._

Adachi sighed. "Hey, can you keep it down? I'm trying to work, here. Um…here, let me see that.," he mumbled, snatching the paper away from her. Nanako looked up in some embarrassment. She hadn't even realized she'd said any of that out loud.

"What are you trying to draw?" he asked.

Nanako pointed hesitantly at the ugly flower. "A flower," she mumbled. "But I can't…it always comes out looking stupid." She knew that she was not supposed to use the word 'stupid,' but right now, she was very angry at that ugly flower. She felt justified in her word choice.

Adachi whipped another piece of paper out of his desk, and leaned over it, scribbling something with his tongue stuck between his teeth. After only a minute or so, he put the pencil down and slid the paper over to Nanako. "There," he announced. "A flower."

Nanako gazed at it in wonder. It was a cartoon flower, like she might have seen on a TV show, but it was perfect and symmetrical, just like the strawberry pattern on the cake. "Wow," she breathed, beaming up at Adachi in admiration. "It's beautiful!"

Adachi looked startled. He scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably, muttering, "It's, uh, it's not that great."

"No, it is!" insisted Nanako. "You're great at art! Can you put color in it? I want to make it red. Oh, and can you make another one?"

"I…really need to finish this stuff," began Adachi, gesturing at the papers he'd been working. Dojima-san's gonna be really mad if I don't finish it by the time he gets back."

"Pretty please?" begged Nanako. "I promise I'll help you finish your work!"

Adachi gave her a tired little smile. "Nah, that's…that's okay. I doubt there's much you can do for me, here. Um…just one more flower, okay? Y ou said you wanted a red one?"

Adachi began scribbling away on his piece of paper again. Nanako squirmed in anticipation.

_Dad is going to be so excited! _she thought.

**Three hours later…**

Nanako yawned. Next to her at the desk, Adachi slammed a binder closed, and stood up from his chair.

"That's it for me today," he announced, stretching both arms up over his head. "Oof, that feels good, after being stuck in that chair for hours. What a drag…police work my ass…oops!'

Looking over at Nanako, he frowned. "Uh, that's not a word you should say at home, okay?"

Nanako rolled her eyes. "I've heard it before," she informed him. "Dad says it when he's angry a lot."

For some reason, Adachi laughed.

"You need to go home," he informed her, grabbing his jacket off the back of the chair. "I don't think Dojima-san would want you to be here when there's no one else around. Besides, you'd get bored."

Nanako nodded. "You're right," she agreed. "But…Dad never came back."

The cake was still sitting on the desk, now with the card folded and placed neatly on top of it.

"He'll probably be home when you get there," said Adachi, sounding a little bit less confident than he looked. "I mean, it's his birthday, right? So, there's no way he'd be out all night. Not on a day like today."

Nanako wanted to believe that. She tried very hard to believe it, but she was all too aware that there had been several holidays in the past for which Dad had never bothered to come home. _Maybe he won't come home tonight, either, _she thought sadly. _He'll forget all about his birthday, and then I'll have to wait till tomorrow when the cake won't be as good or as fresh. That'd be a shame._

"Hey, come on, don't look so sad." Adachi shook his head. "Seriously, even if he does get home late tonight, won't that make the surprise even better? I mean, after a long day of pounding the pavement, who wouldn't want a piece of that cake? He'll be super happy, trust me."

Again, Adachi was eyeing the cake greedily.

"Would you like some cake too, Adachi-san?" asked Nanako. "You've had a long day."

"Wha-? Nah, that's…that's your Dad's birthday cake," stammered Adachi quickly. "I mean, there's no way we can cut it open until he gets here."

_But he might never get here, _thought Nanako.

"Why don't you come back to the house with me?" she asked. "If Dad's already there, then we can all celebrate together. I think he'd really like that."

Adachi grimaced. "I'm…not so sure he would," he muttered. Again, he glanced over at the cake. "Uh, jeez…I guess that'd probably be better than making you walk home by yourself, though, right?"

"Right!" agreed Nanako.

Adachi shrugged. "Hard to argue with that," he muttered. "Uh, okay, sure. But in that case, we're gonna drive. I don't want to carry that thing all the way home. Did you really drag that through the shopping district by yourself? I'm…kind of impressed."

Nanako beamed. "I'm pretty strong," she informed him.

"Guess so," mumbled Adachi. "Or maybe just way more dedicated than me."

**Chapter 2: Two: October 4, 2011**

**Two: October 4, 2011**

"So, you got big plans for tonight?" asked Adachi conversationally, while Dojima glowered down at some paperwork splayed out on his desk.

"Huh?" mumbled Dojima. "Big plans? Shut up, would you? I'm trying to concentrate."

"Hey, I'm just asking," muttered Adachi. "I mean, I figure if you're gonna leave early or something, you should probably tell me, right? I'm the one who's gonna get stuck with all the work you don't finish…"

Dojima sighed heavily, and turned the glare on Adachi. "What are you talking about? When the hell have I ever left early?"

Adachi waited a moment, trying to figure out if there was any chance that Dojima was joking around. _Not like that's something he knows how to do, or anything, _he thought ruefully.

"You have totally forgotten what day it is today, haven't you?" asked Adachi. He waited while Dojima frowned, glanced over his shoulder at the wall calendar, and shook his head.

"It's October fourth," said Dojima. "Why would I that be any…"

_3…2…1…_thought Adachi, counting off on his fingers below the desktop.

"October fourth," mumbled Dojima again. Then his eyes widened suddenly, and his jaw dropped open. "Goddamnit," he bellowed. "How the hell did I…? Ugh, I really haven't been getting enough sleep. Today's the most important day of the year! It's-!"

"Nanako-chan's birthday, sir," interjected Adachi smoothly. "Yep. I figured you'd forget."

Dojima muttered nervously under his breath. "Why'd you think a thing like that? It's not like I've ever forgotten before."

Adachi found that frankly difficult to believe. _Then again, _he reminded himself, _when her mom was alive, it was probably her job to keep track of birthdays and parties and things like that. That kind of shit is usually woman's work anyway. Guess I can't fault him too much for forgetting. He's a busy guy, these days…no thanks to me._

Oddly enough, that thought made Adachi feel strange and vaguely uncomfortable. It wasn't that thinking about the murders bothered him. On the contrary, he'd stopped dealing with issues of guilt over the murders months ago. Recently, the game that he was playing against the Inaba police department had started to get more and more exciting, even fun. It was turning into the one thing that kept him from falling asleep at his desk or at the wheel of the car on his way home from a boring job to the shitty, mundane basement room he was renting.

_Still, though, _he thought, remembering the delighted look on Nanako's face as she'd presented him with a slice of cake months ago at the Dojima residence, _there's no reason that the kid's gotta miss her birthday…not because of me, anyway. I mean, isn't that pretty much the only thing kids that age live for? Birthdays, and presents, and stuff like that? Yeah, I don't wanna be that guy…_

Dojima was still muttering to himself. "There's no time," he was saying, running his hands through his thinning hair and looking frazzled. "Damn, if only I'd gotten started on this yesterday. Hah, who am I kidding? I don't even know where to start. What do you even get a seven year old girl as a birthday present? She's got enough dolls, and…"

"What's Nanako-chan's favorite color?" asked Adachi.

Dojima gave him a helpless look. "Pink maybe? She does like that one pink dress her mom got her."

"Okay, then." Adachi made a note of that on a post-it, and stuck it in his pocket. "So, she likes pink dresses. That's a start. Tell you what; I'll stick around here and finish up this crap we've gotta hand in by the end of the day. Thank me later. You get over to Junes and find a pink dress you can get your daughter for her birthday."

Adachi felt that he was making a huge sacrifice, agreeing to do extra work just so that Dojima could finish an errand he'd put off for too long. He was, in fact, pretty impressed with his own ability to play the Good Samaritan, and was just getting ready to congratulate himself on being a classy, stand-up guy when he saw the miserable, stricken look on Dojima's face.

"What is it now?" Adachi asked.

"I have…no idea how to shop for a girl's clothing," mumbled Dojima. "And…uh…look, I can't go into the women's' clothing department at Junes."

Dojima's face flushed uncharacteristically, and Adachi was surprised. _Didn't think he was the type to get embarrassed about ladies underwear, or whatever else you find in the women's section. Hah. Seriously._

"The saleswomen in that section know me," continued Dojima miserably. "They…they're very sympathetic. They, uh, they're always very eager to talk to me when I'm in there…about Nanako, and about my late wife, and…um…"

Adachi raised an eyebrow. "Oh," he said, nodding. "I get it. You've got that whole 'emotionally-damaged single dad' thing going on, right? Yeah, women do really seem to go for that."

Briefly, Adachi contemplated the possibility of bringing Nanako along when he went shopping, to see if he could use her to help him drum up some female attention. _Then again, _he reminded himself, _this town is tiny. Everyone around here knows Nanako, so they'll know she isn't my kid. Wouldn't do me any good._

"I really hate going in there," Dojima said, sighing.

Adachi shrugged. "Fine, sure, I hear you. Then let's do it another way. You stay here, do MY paperwork, and I'll go get the dress. Sound good?"

Now it was Dojima's turn to frown. "Yeah…yeah, that'd work fine. Actually, I'm surprised you didn't suggest that in the first place. It's not like you to offer to take on more responsibility."

"Hey, how was I supposed to know you'd go for it?" Adachi laughed. "Anyway, what size dress do I get?"

Dojima made some notes for Adachi on an index card, and after pocketing the card, Adachi gleefully took his leave of the station.

He couldn't believe his good luck. He pretty much had free reign to go where and do what he pleased for the rest of the afternoon, so long as he came back with a present for Nanako-chan. _So Dojima-san's intimidated by the salesladies at Junes, huh? There has got to be a way that I can use that. I mean…I could probably make this a regular thing, running errands at Junes so that Dojima-san doesn't have to. Man, if I'd only figured this out a little bit sooner, this year would probably have sucked a lot less._

It made sense, he thought, to buy the dress first. Then he could do whatever he wanted with the rest of his day, without worrying that he'd have to go back empty handed. With that in mind, Adachi strolled over to the store, imagining all the different things that he could potentially get to eat after his errand was over.

"Uh, hi there!" he told the saleslady at Junes who was in the process of restocking a display of women's athletic socks. "So, I'm looking for a birthday present for a little girl. She really likes pink, and dresses. Does, uh…does that sound like something you can help me with?"

The saleslady yawned, gave Adachi a bored look, and then pointed. He followed her finger, and spent a few moments staring in surprise and horror at the vast array of children's clothing, one entire rack of which seemed to consist of pink, red, and white frilly and lacey things.

"Oh boy," he muttered, running one hand through his hair. "This is maybe not going to be as easy as I thought."

One little girl with blond ringlets and a red jumper was tugging on her mother's arm, pulling her inexorably closer and closer to the rack of frilly dresses. "Mommy, mommy!" insisted the girl, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. "I want this one! Please, pretty please?"

As the mother led her disappointed child away from the display, Adachi walked over and glanced at the price tag on the dress that the child had wanted.

_Holy crap, _he thought. _I don't remember the last time I paid this much for a pair of pants, and Nanako-chan is half my size at least! Shouldn't her clothes cost half as much? At least?_

"Uh, excuse me," he called out to the saleslady. "Do you guys have a sales rack, or something? Maybe a discount bin?"

The saleslady gave him a disdainful look. Again, she pointed, and again, Adachi followed her finger to a rack full of children's clothing. This rack, however, was very different. There were dresses of all different colors hanging on it, none of which looked particularly appealing, and some of which had pieces of fabric hanging off of them in odd places, or strange pictures planted across the chests or on the sleeves. There were no children trying to coax their mothers into buying them anything off of this rack.

One piece of pinkish orange lace on the sales rack caught Adachi's eye, and he rooted around until he found the price tag. It wasn't exactly something that he could imagine Nanako wearing, but it did, essentially, fit the description "pink dress."

_Hey, _he thought, seeing the much more modest price. _That's more like it._

Grabbing the dress and slinging it over his arm, he nodded his thanks to the saleslady, and started over towards the checkout counter. As he walked past the rack of pink, frilly confections, however, he hesitated, frowning to himself.

**That evening, at the Dojima residence…**

"Where the hell did Yu get to?" grumbled Dojima, taking yet another look out through the front windows. "Doesn't he know what day it is, today?"

_Is that supposed to be some kind of joke? _wondered Adachi wryly. Nanako was happily eating a piece of the cake which Dojima had apparently picked up on his way back from the office.

"Well, Nanako?" asked Dojima. "Are you ready to open your birthday present?"

Nanako's eyes lit up like the sun had come shining through them, and she jumped to her feet, the cake abandoned and forgotten on its plate. "A present?" she gasped. "For me? Really?"

_Even a present, _thought Adachi, with a twinge of annoyance, _shouldn't make a kid THAT excited. It's like she really didn't expect to get one. I wonder if she thought he was gonna forget her birthday, too. Man, that's…wait, aren't kids supposed to be entitled? Yeah, at that age, they're supposed to think the world revolves around them. Something tells me Nanako's never been like that. Maybe she's never had the opportunity. Jeez._

Dojima handed the Junes bag across to Nanako, and she gave him a sunny, delighted smile as she carefully lifted the dress out of the bag.

"Oh, wow!" she breathed, unfolding the dress and running her fingers along pink ribbons and layers of white lace. "It's so beautiful! Thank you, Dad! Thank you so much!"

Dojima looked extremely pleased. He gave Adachi a rare, satisfied smile. "Don't thank me," he said, "Thank Adachi. He's the one that picked it out for you."

"Uh…wait, no, it's not like that," began Adachi quickly, a bit embarrassed. "I mean, I just looked at what the other kids were buying, and…"

"Thank you, Adachi-san!" Nanako laid the dress carefully down on the carpet, and ran over to give Adachi a big hug around the knees. Adachi stood very still, uncertain what response was expected of him. After a moments' hesitation, he reached down and patted Nanako on the head.

"You're welcome," he mumbled. "But, seriously, the present came from your Dad. I just picked it up at the store...cause, you know, he had work to do."

Nanako released him, but continued to smile. Dojima gestured at the dress on the floor.

"Go on," he suggested. "Why don't you try it on?"

"Okay!" Eagerly, Nanako gathered up the dress and darted off to her own room to change.

While Nanako was upstairs, Dojima cut himself and Adachi each a piece of cake. "I'd say you've definitely earned yours," he informed Adachi benevolently. "Honestly, I wasn't so sure about sending you on this mission…but I'm glad it all worked out. I'll have to remember that you've got a talent for this sort of thing."

"Uh…right." Adachi ate his cake, and didn't argue.

A few moments of basically companionable silence passed. Then, Dojima coughed, and bit his lip.

"I'll have to pay you back at the end of the week," he mumbled. "Can't say I have that kind of money on me, right now. I really figured you'd pick something out of the bargain bin. That's usually what I do. Uh, please don't tell Nanako I said that."

"Yep." Adachi sighed. "I had a feeling…"

**Chapter 3: Three : February 1, 2012**

**Three: February 1, 2012**

On the morning of the first day of February, Nanako ran downstairs and threw the front door open to find that it was snowing again.

"Oh," she thought. It was maybe the first time in her life that she'd ever been disappointed by too much snow. _I wonder, _she asked herself. _Can they still deliver mail in the snow? I think so…_

Dad was still asleep, and so Nanako tiptoed carefully back upstairs, opened up her desk, and began rummaging around through the morass of crayons and little plastic toys, searching for the pad of shiny pink paper that Yukiko had given her as a "welcome home" present. It was an Amagi Inn desk pad, and it had the words "Amagi Inn," printed in little black cursive letters at the top of each page. Nanako thought it looked very beautiful and adult. So far, she'd only used one page. She had decided that this paper wasn't for coloring. It was only to be used on special occasions.

Nanako's teacher had once explained to her that pink crayon didn't show up on pink paper. It took her several minutes to find a crayon that wasn't pink, and then as soon as she found it, she frowned and dumped it back into the desk drawer.

_Crayon is for little kids, _she reminded herself. _Besides, I don't even know if he likes pink. Black pen is probably safer…but I have to be really careful if I don't want it to smudge!_

With that in mind, Nanako wrote the following message very, very carefully, and very, very slowly;

_Dear Adachi-san,_

_Happy Birthday!_

_I bet you thought I would forget, but I didn't! I remember that you told me when it was._

_Do you know what? It is snowing here! It is so pretty! Is it snowing where you are, too?_

Suddenly, Nanako stopped and frowned to herself. Then she bit her lip, and started writing again.

_Oh, but is it very cold where you are? Dad says that jails are very cold. I hope the snow does not make it too cold. They should give you lots of blankets._

_I wanted to give you a cake, but I think that would get squished in the mail. Sorry! We will have one when you get back, okay?_

Uncertain exactly how to end her message, Nanako paused again. There was something that she knew she wanted to say, but she wasn't quite sure how to say it. She was worried that if she strayed too far from her original plan, she might end up writing words that she wasn't sure how to spell, and that then Adachi would laugh at her, like he did when she said things like "shoe" instead of "stew."

"What would Dad say?" she asked herself, chewing thoughtfully on the end of her pen. "Oh, I know…there's something he always says when I get in trouble. Um, I don't really know how to spell it though. Well…I guess I can try."

Removing the pen from her mouth, she continued to write.

_I am not angry anymore. I was, but now I am not. Sometimes people make mistakes, and that is okay._

_I love you anyway. I promise. That will never change, because we are family._

_So you can come home now._

_I will not be mad._

_Really!_

To emphasize the "really!" Nanako drew a big heart with a smiley face on it. This, she decided, could be pink. Hearts were pink. She colored it in.

_So, happy birthday and see you soon,_ she finished.

_Love, Nanako_

She read the letter over several times until she was sure that she was satisfied with how it had come out. Then she grabbed up the paper and hurried downstairs again to search for an envelope.

It was while she was reaching for the stack of business envelopes that were inexplicably sitting to the left of the kitchen sink that Yu came wandering downstairs, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"Nanako-chan?" he asked. "What are you doing up so early?"

Nanako proudly showed him her letter. "It's Adachi-san's birthday," she informed him. "I'm finding an envelope to send this in!"

Yu frowned. "I see." He spent a moment reading the letter over, and Nanako was a little worried about the way his face darkened the further he got down the page.

"Um, Big Bro," she asked. "Is…is it okay? Did I do it wrong? I can do it again…"

Yu shook his head. "No, Nanako, it's very good," he reassured her. "You spelled everything perfectly. It's a very good letter." He still, however, did not look happy.

"Then…what's wrong?" insisted Nanako.

"It's just.." Yu looked as though he were going to explain, then sighed, shook his head, and shut his mouth again. "No," he muttered, although it seemed to Nanako as though he were talking to himself and not to her at all. "No, there's no point…why spoil it?"

"Big Bro?" inquired Nanako.

Yu focused his attention on her again. "Nanako-chan, I'm sorry," he said gently. "I don't think we can send this."

Nanako was startled. "But…why?" she asked. "You said it was a good letter!"

"It's a beautiful letter," agreed Yu, placing a comforting hand on Nanako's right shoulder. "There's nothing wrong with it. I think he'd be really happy to receive it from you. Unfortunately, we're not allowed to send mail to this kind of jail. The people in charge there won't let him get any letters. "

"But…it's his birthday!" Nanako reminded Yu.

"Even," countered Yu quietly, "on his birthday. I'm sorry, Nanako. Those are the rules. It was very sweet of you, though, to think of him. I'm sure he would have appreciated it."

Giving Nanako's shoulder another reassuring squeeze, Yu returned upstairs to his own bedroom, leaving Nanako staring unhappily at the letter in her hand.

"But," she repeated, to no one at all, or maybe to the cruel world at large, "it's his birthday."

The snow continued to fall on the other side of the window. Nanako spent a few minutes watching it, frowning, and thinking about blankets.


	2. Part Two: Dreamgirl

Title: **Dreamgirl**  
Category: Games » Persona Series  
Author: Ari Moriarty  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T  
Genre: Family/Friendship  
Published: 06-30-13, Updated: 12-27-13  
Chapters: 106, Words: 222,198

**Chapter 1: Author's Note**

**Author's Note: Allelujah** will very soon be coming to a close, and so it may be time for me to start a new story arc. Of course, we still have several chapters to go **on Allelujah**, but we're getting very close to the end, and I think, at least for now, that will mark the end of the series that I have been working on all year.

I'm starting to feel the need to create something new and start over from the beginning, partially in order to try out some new ideas and new character pairings that I haven't been able to play with before. As I've been writing my other stories, there have been several characters, relationships, and scenarios that I have wanted to try, but that I haven't quite been able to fit into my plan. I've been saving those things up in my notebooks, and now maybe it's time to try them out in prose.

Of course I'm also working on **M-Path**, which I will continue happily writing, but I think I'd like to start a new story with the Persona 4 characters as well.

So, without further ado, here is a brand new story, and perhaps the beginning of a new series. Or maybe not. We'll see how you like it, how's that?

Sincerely and enthusiastically,

Ari Moriarty

**Chapter 2: Prologue - The Velvet Room**

**Prologue – The Velvet Room**

**October 4, 2022**

"Nngh…" Tohru Adachi opened his eyes, and was blinded by blue.

"Welcome," said some extremely ugly, long-nosed old guy, "to the Velvet Room."

"Whoa," said Adachi. He took a look around at the blue walls, the blue floorboards, and the blue ceiling. There were blue cabinets and blue upholstered seats, and a stunner of a blond girl in some sort of weirdly fashion-forward blue suit sitting next to the ugly old guy.

_Okay, _reasoned Adachi. _Kinda creepy, and definitely different. It's not like I haven't had weirder dreams, though. Actually, this place looks pretty high-end, not so bad when you start to get used to it. _Eyeing the blond woman, he added, _yeah, definitely not so bad. How old do I think she is…twenty five? Twenty six? Actually, who cares?_

"Welcome to the what?" he asked. "Wait, who are you?"

"Ah." The old man closed his eyes for a moment. "Foolish of me. Forgive me. My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance, although…strange, is it not, that we have never met before?"

Adachi wasn't quite sure what to make of that. "I, uh…feel like I would have remembered you, if I'd seen you somewhere," he managed. "You've got one of those memorable faces. "

Igor smiled, and it was a very unnerving sort of tight-lipped smile. "This place," he intoned, apparently choosing to ignore Adachi's last remark, "exists within the confines of your mind. I have sought you out in your dreams, and you are fast asleep in the real world. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is determined and constructed out of the building blocks that contain your psyche."

_Well, it's obviously a dream, _thought Adachi. _The real world is mostly constructed of iron bars, dumbass thugs that pass as prison guards, and a hell of a lot nothing. _"Uh huh," he said. "Okay, I'll believe that. Go on. Why am I dreaming about this?" Glancing over at the blond woman, he corrected himself. "I mean, okay, I can guess why I might be dreaming about her, but..."

The blond woman gave him a chilly, almost inhuman look. That, too, was pretty unnerving. Suddenly, she wasn't quite as attractive anymore. "My name," she told him quietly, "is Margaret."

"And you," insisted Igor. "Would you care to introduce yourself?"

Adachi blinked, then grinned. "Wait," he said, "hang on a second. Isn't this my dream? So, you probably know who I am already, right Anyway, I mean…you're not the only one in here with a recognizable mug shot. Hell, pretty much every policeman within a five hundred mile radius knows my face. I'm in the damn academy textbooks."

Igor and Margaret continued to stare at Adachi with blankly expectant expressions on their faces. Adachi sighed.

"Tohru Adachi," he drawled. "Self-confessed murderer and convicted kidnapper. I figure you've probably heard of me, right?"

Instead of answering his question, Igor posed another one. That was really annoying. Adachi hated the Socratic method. "This fame you speak of," murmured Igor placidly. "Does it bring you happiness?"

Adachi stared at him. "Does it…wait, seriously? That's not a real question, right? Because, I don't know if you've heard, but I've been in prison for ten years. I wake up every morning wondering if they're gonna kill me or not. Every morning, for ten years." He scowled at the blue-tiled floor. "Hell, I don't' even know if I want them to or not anymore. Not sure it matters one way or another. Death might be less boring, so there's that. So, anyway, does that answer your question? Don't lump me in with that Kubo kid. This was never about fame or any crap like that."

Margaret raised one delicate, frigid eyebrow. "What was it about?" she asked.

Adachi had been hoping she wouldn't. People always asked, and it was never an easy answer. "Who the fuck knows?" he muttered. "It made sense then. Doesn't anymore. Guess I was making a point. Can't remember what that point was…"

_This dream, _decided Adachi, _is turning into a nightmare, attractive blond chick or no attractive blond chick. I'm pretty sure I've had dreams like this before. Always leaves a bad taste in my mouth when I wake up. What's the point of going over all of it again? Not like it's gonna make a difference, not now._

"Enough of this crap," he told them. "I'm ready to wake up, now."

"I have brought you here," murmured Igor, "to offer you an opportunity."

Adachi shook his head. "I told you," he repeated, "forget this; I just want to wake-!"

"Or perhaps," continued Igor inexorably, "a bargain, rather than an opportunity. If you will, I have been authorized to offer you a choice."

Adachi paused. _Well, if it is just a dream, _he told himself, _then I guess it can't hurt, right? What's the harm?_

"A bargain, huh?" he asked. "Okay, I'm listening. What've you got?"

Igor and Margaret exchanged an unreadable look. Then Igor reached down and used two delicate fingers to pick something up off of the table in front of him. It appeared to be some sort of card, and a nasty chill went shooting down Adachi's spine as soon as he saw it.

"No way," he muttered.

Igor held the card up. It was a tarot card, inscribed with the number "0," and a picture of a man with a sack over his shoulder.

"Get that thing away from me," snarled Adachi, backing away even as he spoke. "I don't want anything to do with that persona crap. That's…that's what got me into this mess in the first place. That's how I ended up here, that's what turned me into a…listen, just leave me alone. I'm out of here."

"Your destiny is calling to you, Tohru Adachi," intoned Igor. "The place you once called home will soon be facing a great calamity; a calamity hat will require the services and powers of a savior. I am offering you the opportunity to take on that cause, and in return, I offer you your life. That seems a reasonable, exchange, does it not?"

Igor smiled again, and Adachi hated that smile, was manically terrified of that smile. Margaret wasn't smiling, but she was staring down at him with those cold, unfeeling eyes, and something horrible started rising up from the depths of Adachi's souls and making its presence felt.

"Please," he begged, and then hated himself for begging. "Please, just…just let me out of here. I've been a fucking model prisoner, I didn't do shit to deserve this, just leave me alone!"

Igor placed a piece of paper on the table in front of him. Margaret glanced at it briefly before apparently losing interest. Tapping one long finger significantly against the paper, Igor glanced up over it into Adachi's increasingly terrified eyes.

"The decision is yours," he said. "Deny your destiny, or reclaim your life. I am only here to offer, not to force. I have no power over the direction of the future."

They sat there for a moment, all three of them stuck in a strange, eerily still tableau while Adachi tried not to look at the paper on Igor's desk. Moments elapsed, maybe minutes, maybe hours. Finally, Adachi swallowed, took a few steps forward, and picked up the pen.

"Why me?" he asked. "How the hell does that make any sense, huh?"

Suddenly, Margaret smiled. "Because," she informed him. "You are a perfect Fool."

**Chapter 3: Chapter One - Happily Ever After**

**Chapter One – Happily Ever After**

**October 5, 2022**

Nanako Dojima woke up that morning, but kept her eyes tightly shut. Instead, she listened quietly for a few minutes to the stillness of the room and to the clomping sound that her father's shoes made as he puttered around upstairs. Then, cautiously, hesitantly, praying underneath each breath, she opened her eyes and turned to look out the window.

"No rain," she whispered. "Oh, thank goodness…"

It was a beautiful, sunny day, full of clear skies and just the right brisk feeling to the air that was the best part of fall. Nanako shivered a little with glee, ten threw her legs over the side of the bed and jumped up, only pausing to throw the covers back into some semblance of shape before she rushed down the stairs in her nightgown.

"Dad!" she called eagerly, "Dad! Its okay, it's not raining! We don't have to cancel anything!"

Her father, Ryotaro Dojima was sitting at the kitchen table, staring blearily across at the far wall, holding a cup of steaming coffee in his hand. He glanced up as Nanako came bounding into the room, and she hurried over to kiss him on the forehead. Dad gave her a dazed sort of smile.

"Morning," he mumbled, sipping his coffee and closing his eyes.

Nanako frowned. "Dad," she admonished him, "You weren't home when I went to bed last night."

"Yeah…" Dojima sighed. "Got stuck late at the office. One of the other guys brought a bottle of sake, and they wanted to celebrate my career or something, so…" He shrugged. "Sorry. You know I've only got a week left before I stop going in at all, I promise."

Nanako didn't say anything. It had been a week now since the Inaba police department had essentially forced her father into early retirement, making up some stupid reasons about being worried that he was working too hard and not wanting him to get hurt on the job. Dojima, at fifty five, was physically healthy and mentally sound, but…Nanako had a feeling that she knew what had really happened. Things had been different for Dad, and frankly for everyone else since the murders ten years ago. Police work for him had stopped being a job, and had started becoming an obsession. Obsessions, Nanako knew, where unhealthy, and no doubt Dad's coworkers had started to notice. Maybe they'd been afraid for him. Maybe they'd been afraid of him. Nanako knew what both of those things felt like.

_Today, though, _she reminded herself, _is going to be a wonderful day! Today will cheer him up, I know it! Today is the day that we're finally going to become a family again. That's better than three hundred million jobs at the police station!_

"He'll be here soon," said Dad, finishing off the coffee and giving it a disappointed look as he put the mug down. "Go put some clothes on."

Nanako went back down to her room.

_Today is a day for my prettiest dress, _she decided. It then took twenty minutes just to figure out which dress was her prettiest, or at least which one looked the prettiest on her. That was always a conundrum. Nanako had long ago decided to stop worrying so much about how she looked when she went out in the morning. Inaba was full of mysterious beauties, and Nanako was….well, clean and healthy looking, but not exactly what anyone would consider stunningly beautiful. There was nothing wrong with her, of course, but she'd grown up to look like her mother, who had been the most beautiful woman in Nanako's world, but who frankly paled in comparison to the amazing Yukiko Amagi or the haughtily perfect Ai Ebihara. It had been an uncomfortable lesson in tangible truth when Nanako had realized that looking beautiful and being beautiful inside were not necessarily the same thing at all.

Eventually, she chose something pink with lace on it, and then twirled around for a moment in front of the mirror, trying not to be too disappointed.

_But it doesn't matter, _she reminded herself, _because he won't notice what I'm wearing at all. I will always be just his little sister, I think. _That was a comforting thought. There were some things in this world that never changed, and Nanako wanted to cling to those things and never let them go.

A door slammed closed upstairs, and Nanako held her breath.

"Nanako!" called Dad. "What are you doing down there? Come up and say hello to your cousin!"

Nanako's heart swelled. Forgetting, for the moment, the decorum required by a lady, she ran up the stairs two or three at a time, bursting into the living room where she found her beloved cousin, Yu Narukami, standing and shaking hands with Dad, who was beaming at him like a proud father.

"Big Bro!" shouted Nanako, throwing herself into his arms.

"Oof," murmured Yu, wrapping her up in a bear hug. "Nanako-chan, I think you got taller again."

Nanako glanced self-consciously at her feet. "No," she informed him. "I didn't."

Yu smiled. "Well, I hope I'm not old enough to be getting shorter, yet."

"Give it time," muttered Dad. "Coffee?"

Yu nodded. "Yes, please, uncle."

They all sat down at the kitchen table together. Nanako watched Yu's face as he talked idly with Dad. There were lines in it, now, lines that she hadn't noticed before. They weren't wrinkles, exactly, but…she couldn't quite think of the word to use.

_He's tired, _she thought. _That's what the real world does to people. It makes them tired, just like Dad. It's…kind of sad, really._ She decided to think about something else.

"So," asked Dad, looking Yu square in the eye with what Nanako had come to understand was his "man-to-man" stare. "You think you're ready to take the plunge?"

For some reason, Yu looked a bit uncomfortable. "I hope so," he said. "Do…you think I'm making the right decision?"

Nanako was surprised. "Of course you are!" she insisted. "She's so pretty, and kind, and…and you love her, don't you?"

Slowly, Yu smiled. He nodded, and then reached out to ruffle Nanako's hair, but found that her head was a little higher than he expected it to be, and he bumped her forehead with his fingers.

"Yeah," he said. "I do. I love her very much."

"And," continued Nanako, "you'll be coming back to live here, in Inaba, forever…won't you?"

Again, Yu nodded. "That is the plan."

Nanako shrugged. "It sounds like a fairytale," she informed him. "The perfect happily ever after. How could it not be the right decision?"

Yu was still looking at Dojima, who now had a different kind of smile on his face. It was a sad smile, and he wasn't looking at Yu anymore, but was instead staring off into space, looking at something that Nanako couldn't see, maybe something that had happened a long time ago.

_Happily ever after, _thought Nanako, biting her lip. _Well, not always. _She reached out across the table and squeezed Dad's hand. After a moment, Dad shook his head a little.

"Yeah," he told Yu. "Yeah, I think you're right. I think she's a great girl. We're all looking forward to the rest of your life."

"The rest of your life with us!" added Nanako happily.

Dad laughed. "Jeez, Nanako," he muttered. "You know he's about to be a married man, he's going to want some time to himself…probably a lot of time, at the beginning." Dad winked at Yu, who suddenly turned very red, and it took Nanako a moment to realize just exactly what they were talking about. Then she turned red, too, and her mouth fell open for a second.

_Definitely, think about something else, _she told herself.

"A-anyway," stammered Yu. "Um, Uncle Dojima, there was something I was hoping you could help me with."

"Yeah?" asked Dad. "What's that?"

Before Yu had a chance to answer the question, there was a knock at the door. Nanako instantly stood up to answer it.

**Chapter 4: Chapter Two: The Man I Used to Be**

**Chapter Two: The Man I Used to Be**

**October 5, 2022**

The next morning, Adachi was relieved to wake up on his own cot. It was the same ratty, miserable, foul-smelling prison cot he'd slept on for the last ten years. As far as he could remember, this was the first time during those ten years that he'd actually been happy to feel it underneath him.

_Heh, _he thought, blowing out a little sigh of relief. _Yeah, right. I knew all along it was just a stupid dream. Jeez, what the hell's gotten into me?_

It was only then that Adachi realized that something was wrong. Just out of the corner of his eye, he could see, or rather feel something glowing. When he turned around to face what had always been a blank cell wall before, he found himself staring at a bright blue door, pulsing gently in the darkness with a strangely familiar sort of light.

"Uh," muttered Adachi. "Crap."

Involuntarily, he pushed himself back against the wall, as far away from the glowing door as he could. He closed his eyes, and then opened them again, but the door, not unexpectedly, was still there.

"Nngh…" Adachi grimaced. _I said I was gonna play by the rules of this world. I said it was over. Hell, I wanted it to be over. Those kids were supposed to clean my shit up and leave me alone. That's how it works. The heroes save the day and the bad guys disappear. I want to fucking disappear. Thought I'd done that already._

Suddenly, something tiny with too many legs scuttled across Adachi's foot. He shuddered, and kicked it across the room, then watched it impact on the far cell wall, splattering into bloody, buggy oblivion.

"Okay," he muttered. "Fine, sure. Scary blue door's looking pretty good right now."

Standing up, he walked across the room, took a deep breath, and pushed on the door. Nothing happened. He tried again, but again, no dice.

_Oh, _thought Adachi. _What's up with this? Off the hook, huh?_

It was only then that he saw the key, glistening up at him from the floor right next to his foot. He bent down, picked it up, and then tried it on the door. This time the door opened.

"Ah," said Igor, as Adachi stepped through the doorway. "I am delighted that you decided to join us."

Adachi blinked. "Wha…wait, do I still have a choice?"

Margaret smiled her icy, passionless smile. "No," she informed him. "Once the contract has been signed, the commitment becomes absolute."

Adachi sighed. "Yep, that's what I figured." He shut the door behind him, and then stood for a moment, frowning. "So, uh…what now? How are you gonna convince the guards to let me walk? That's gonna take some kind of serious hard-core magic trick, and this I gotta see."

Igor and Margaret exchanged a slightly puzzled look. Then Margaret stood up, walked across the room, and opened another door at the far end.

"This door," she informed him, "will lead you back into the TV World. I understand that you are already familiar with the workings of that place."

"Uh," said Adachi. "Yeah, that's…that's one way of putting it."

"Excellent," murmured Igor. "In that case, you are free to go."

For a moment, Adachi didn't understand. "Wait, I'm…what?" he asked.

"The door lies open to you," said Margaret. "At this time, you have no further need of our services. All will be revealed to you at a future time."

"Surely," suggested Igor, "there are friends of yours that you might wish to see. Family, perhaps….hmm?"

Adachi gaped at them both. "W-wait," he stammered, "Hold on just a second, this is…this is insane, are you out of your minds? You want me to just walk back out there into the real world, and…and what, exactly? Just…just play it cool? I told you, I'm in textbooks and shit. People know my face. I thought you had some kind of plan, here, some way of getting me a reprieve. Is this it? This is all I get?"

Margaret gave him the same slightly disgusted look that she might give to a dead bug that she found attached to the bottom of her shoe. "You have committed crimes against your world," she informed him. "Terrible crimes. There is no reprieve or magic spell which can take back what's been done. Our offer was to give you back your life. We have already done that. The rest is up to you."

Margaret sat back down in her chair. Igor returned to reading over some paper on the table in front of him, and in a matter of seconds, it was as though they'd forgotten that Adachi was even in the room.

"Hey!" he shouted. "No way! I'm not going back out there; this was never supposed to happen! They'll catch me, and this time, they'll kill me. You understand? They will fucking kill me. I'm not any use to you if I'm dead, right? Right? Hey, listen to me! Come on!"

Igor and Margaret remained disinterested. Adachi looked helplessly back at the door that supposedly led out into the TV World.

"Forget it," he said. "I want out of this game."

This time, Margaret did look up. "The contract is absolute," she reminded him quietly. "There is no 'out.' You must abide by the consequences of your actions, as must we all."

Sweat was now pooling on the back of Adachi's neck, and he could feel himself starting to panic. Taking a quick breath, he forced himself to think rationally, and did his best to summon back those detective instincts that were rusty and unwilling after ten years of lying unused in the back of his mind.

_Nah, that's no way to do it, _he told himself. _It's the criminal instincts you want, Adachi, not the detective stuff. Although…in the end, I guess it's the same thing, right? It's all analytical. So, analyze! What the hell's next?_

Adachi was tired. It had been days, maybe weeks…no, years since he'd actually had a good night's sleep. Ages of being forbidden from any real exercise had made him sluggish and dull in high-pressure situations.

"Shit," he mumbled. "I'm…uh, not the man I used to be. Then again, maybe that's a good thing?"

Igor and Margaret were still eerily silent. Adachi sighed, and sat down against the wall next to the door.

"Eh, who am I kidding?" he asked the world at large. "Nah, I'm totally fucked."

**Chapter 5: Chapter Three: Because You're Beautiful**

**Author's Note: **Thanks to everyone who's been reading so far! Yes, the chapters are a bit shorter in this story than the ones I usually write…my schedule's been a bit silly lately. Please bear with me, and I'll try to update more frequently to make up for the curt chapters. Thanks for your patience!

**Chapter Three: Or Are You Beautiful Because I Love You?**

Nanako opened the front door to find Rise Kujikawa standing outside, looking bright and peppy as usual.

"Nanako-chan!" she cried, beaming. "Oh, it's so good to see you! Wow, it's been so long…I don't remember when I was last in Inaba. Last year, maybe Two years ago? Anyway, how are you? You're so grown up now, you look great!"

She threw her arms out wide and gave Nanako a big hug. Nanako giggled. "It's nice to see you too, Rise-san. We've all missed you! I have your new CD, and I watch your interviews on TV all the time!"

While Rise and Yu exchanged enthusiastic greetings, Nanako frowned. Rise, once a teenage idol and now an international superstar, was a pretty big deal. Even if Rise was twenty six years old now, there were still tons of kids at Nanako's school who put posters of her up in their lockers, and watched her music videos on their phones during class. Rise was a household name all over the world, and Nanako had read enough entertainment news over the years to know that actors and singers like Rise weren't exactly like real people. Instead, they were so much larger than life that sometimes they failed to fit into the real world, and stood out like a very shiny, glittery sore thumb in the midst of what everyone thought of as daily life.

Somehow, though, in the Dojima kitchen, grinning and hugging and generally just being delighted, Rise Kujikawa was the same girl that had Nanako had eaten summer watermelon with ten years ago. She was the same girl that had helped Nanako put on her very first celebratory kimono, and the same girl that had made that terribly hot and spicy omelet that Nanako had forced herself to smile while eating. Here, Rise was just Rise, and she, just like Yu, was one of the best parts of sleepy Inaba, even if she was almost never here. She fit into Nanako's memories of the place, and so, as far as Nanako was concerned, Rise never really left.

"Mmm," murmured Rise, releasing Yu from her embrace and giving a happy little shiver as she glanced around the room. "Aw, it's so good to be home…"

"Welcome back," muttered Dad. "Can I get you some coffee? Sorry, but…we don't have too much to eat around the house right now. My turn the do the shopping, I guess."

Rise shook her head. "No thank you, Dojima-san! Actually, I came to get Nanako. The other girls are all waiting for her over at the Inn! We have to get ready, right?"

Nanako was surprised. "You want me to come?" she asked.

Rise shook her head. "How many times do we have to tell you? Of course we want you to come, it wouldn't be a real girls' day without you, silly!" Smiling once more at Yu, and nodding politely to Dad, Rise grabbed Nanako by the arm and tugged her out of the kitchen.

It didn't take long for the two of them to get over to the Inn. Rise burst into the front room, and then ran up two flights of stairs with Nanako on her heels until they came to Yukiko's door. "Hey girls!" called Rise, throwing the door open. "Look who I found!"

"Nanako-chan!" exclaimed Yukiko, hurrying over to kiss Nanako on the cheek. "I'm so glad you could make it."

"It's wonderful to see you again, Nanako-chan," murmured Naoto, giving Nanako a small smile. "I trust you're well?"

"Yukiko-san, Naoto-san…" Nanako's heart swelled. "You're back…you're both back."

It felt like ages since she'd seen either of the other two women. Naoto's business as a renowned private detective had been so successful lately that she'd been hopping from place to place on a weekly basis, leaving very little time for friendly visits. The last Nanako had heard from her had been in a letter that she'd received a few weeks ago, when Naoto had taken a moment to send postcards from Okinawa where she'd been pursuing a slippery kidnapper. Yukiko, who now ran the Amagi Inn, had installed a temporary manager in her place for the last year while she spent some time in Tokyo, studying the best and most popular hotels and theoretically, picking up some tips and tricks in terms of hotel management.

There was, however, still one person missing. Nanako frowned as she glanced around the room. "Where's_?" she began, but was interrupted when the door opened behind her, revealing a very flustered and flushed looking Chie, still wearing her sweaty police uniform.

"Sorry, sorry!' she protested, shutting the door hurriedly behind her. "Stuff just kept piling up, and people kept calling…its crazy at the station! Man, Nanako-chan, I don't know how your dad's done it for all of these years, sheesh!"

Yukiko shook her head. "It doesn't matter," she insisted. "You're here now. We still have plenty of time."

From the back of one of the chairs, Yukiko picked up a heavy armful of shimmering white, lacy fabric. She brought it over to Chie, who stared at it with something that looked a little bit like fear in her eyes.

"I…I can't wear it," she stammered.

Yukiko sighed. "Chie," she murmured, "you said you wanted Western-style dress at your wedding. So…"

Chie shook her head. "No, no, it's not that…it's not the wrong kind of dress, it's just…it's so pretty! I mean…wait, seriously, it's freaking gorgeous. I don't really think that I'm…"

Rise shook her head. "Nope! You have to wear it," she informed Chie. "It's too late to turn back now! Besides, Kanji made this. It took him like…I don't know, a year? Maybe? A really long time, anyway."

Chie bit her lip. "Hey," she said, "wait, we've only been engaged for a few months."

Rise and Yukiko exchanged knowing look. "Yeah," said Rise, "it was pretty obvious that you two were getting married soooo long ago. Just stop arguing and put the dress on, okay? Come on, you're gonna look great!"

Chie opened her mouth to protest, but the slightly exasperated stares of her two friends made the words die away unspoken on her lips. She looked to Naoto for help, but Naoto was too busy carefully scrutinizing some of the needlework on the wedding dress sleeve to be paying any attention to Chie.

"Truly,' she murmured, more to herself than to anyone else, "this is excellent work…such intricate detail. Remarkable. His skills have drastically improved since last we met…"

"Um, Chie-san?" said Nanako. "It looks kind of complicated…if you want, I can help you put it on."

Chie gave Nanako an embarrassed sort of grin. "Thanks," she mumbled, looking genuinely grateful. "Yeah, there are so many buttons, um…any help would be great."

Obediently, Nanako came around and picked up the dress. _Wow, _she thought, _it really is beautiful…Kanji-san made this? All by himself? That's so cool…I wonder if I'll get to wear something like this, someday. Maybe he'd make one for me, too, if I was really, really nice…_

Chie sighed. "I'm pretty sure I'm gonna look like a very shiny, very confused white duck in this thing. Like, really awkward, you know? I mean, this is something that you would wear, Yukiko. You'd look great in this, you're so pretty! This is a dress for a lady. I'm a police officer, I'm not a -!"

"You're about to be a bride," Yukiko reminded her. "Now stop making silly excuses, and let's make you look like one."

Yukiko pulled out her makeup kit. Both Naoto and Chie looked slightly panicked.

"It's okay," Nanako told Chie, giving her hand a quick squeeze. "I don't' think it matters what you look like. Big Bro loves you, doesn't he? So to him, you'll always be beautiful…right?"

_That's the way Dad always talks about Mom, _she thought. _That's the way everyone always talks about Mom. She is beautiful…she was beautiful, because we love her._

"Uh, well, yeah, I hope he does," mumbled Chie. "Good point, Nanako-chan, Yeah, so…we don't really need the makeup, right?"

Yukiko raised one menacing eyebrow. "Sit down," she commanded.

**Chapter 6: Chapter Four: Glad You Came**

**Chapter Four: Glad You Came**

Back at the Dojima residence, Yu and the guys were doing their own preparations. As soon as everyone had begun arriving, Dojima had retreated into his own bedroom, leaving the boys alone. Yu tried not to smile too broadly as he listened to the comfortable banter of his friends, each of whom had spent the last few years after Yosuke and Kanji had returned from college living together and learning to get along as they painstakingly forged their own careers in the less-than-bustling Inaba shopping district.

At the moment, Teddie was pouting. "But Yosuke!" he whined, "I don't get it…why do the girls have to take so long and spend so much time alone if we're not even going to get to see them in kimonos? I haven't seen Yuk-chan or Nao-chan in almost a year, and Rise-chan's been gone forever…it's so lonely without them."

"Knock it off," grumbled Kanji, around a mouthful of animal crackers. "Come on, it's not like it's gonna be another two years. You can wait another hour, it won't kill you."

Teddie frowned. "Kanji…don't you want to see Nao-chan in a kimono? Oooh, but I bet you had her model that wedding dress for you…yeah you had to have a real woman to make it on, so I'm sure that's what happened! You're so lucky…and you got pictures, right? Didn't you? Can I see?"

"Wha…wait, why would you…what the hell?" Kanji turned red, so red that it was hard to tell if he was pissed off or just embarrassed. "Of course I didn't get any damn pictures! And I didn't try the dress on Naoto anyway, that's not how it works! You don't just…you don't just put a wedding dress on a girl, that's…there's, uh, there's something wrong with that."

Teddie nodded sagely. "I understand," he insisted sweetly. "You want to wait to see Naoto in her dress on her wedding day!"

From across the room, engrossed in the process of tying the belt onto Yu's tuxedo, Yosuke snorted with derisive amusement. "Yeah, right, like that's ever going to happen."

Teddie looked surprised. "You don't think Naoto will ever get married, Yosuke?"

Yosuke shook his head quickly. "Nah, sure she will, she's a great girl. She's just, uh, definitely not getting married to Kanji, you see what I'm saying?"

While Kanji continued to simmer with enraged misery, Yosuke stepped back and took a long look at his best friend's outfit. "Looking pretty sharp," he announced, grinning and nodding to himself. "Oh, yeah, definitely. You were always basically a girl magnet, but I gotta be honest, formal wear looks pretty good on you. Even Rise might be surprised!"

"Eh, I dunno…she'll probably be too busy crying," noted Kanji.

Yosuke shrugged. "Well, yeah, okay but everybody cries at weddings. It's just the way these things work."

"Right, but…" Kanji shook his head. "No, I mean, she's been carrying a torch for senpai all these years, right? So, this has gotta suck…"

Yosuke rolled his eyes. "Come on, man, do you have to talk about that right now? Way to kill the mood. We're supposed to all happy and celebrating, not talking about shit that happened back in high school and doesn't matter anymore, okay?"

Yu adjusted his bow tie and then frowned at it, apparently unconvinced. "I'm not sure that's true," he insisted quietly. "After all, if it weren't for the things that happened in high school, none of us would be here, now. That's important. It's important to me, anyway."

A few moments of contemplative silence followed that remark.

"Glad you're back, senpai," mumbled Kanji eventually, rubbing one hand nervously along the back of his neck. "I mean, it'll be kinda cool to be a team again, or something."

He reached over and clapped Yu awkwardly on the back. Yu, recently unused to Kanji's brute strength, stumbled forward, and then caught himself against Yosuke's outstretched arm. Teddie began to sniffle audibly. Then, he started to bawl.

"Hey, pull yourself together, Ted!" muttered Yosuke. "Seriously? What's up with the crying? He hasn't even gotten married, yet!"

Kanji, too, was sniffling dangerously. Angrily, he wiped a hand across his eyes, and then turned his back on the group. "Y-yeah, Teddie, shut the hell up," he mumbled, his voice breaking slightly under the pressure of some sort of strong emotion.

Yosuke sighed. He and Yu exchanged an exasperated look, and then both of them started to grin at each other.

"Still glad you came back?" asked Yosuke.

"Definitely," agreed Yu.

Yosuke bit his lip. "All the way back to Inaba just to hang out with weirdoes like these guys-!"

"And Chie! Don't forget Chie-chan!" interjected Teddie quickly.

"Right," agreed Yosuke. "And Chie. Sure. That…doesn't actually make it any better. You always were a little crazy, you know that?" he asked, although there was just enough of a smile leftover in his voice to make Yu realize that he was at least mostly teasing. "Anyway, uh…welcome home, for whatever that's worth."

_It's worth more than you will probably ever guess, _thought Yu. Then, watching the smile unconsciously creeping over Yosuke's face, he decided, _or then again, maybe not. Maybe you do know. We were always pretty good at being on the same page…partner._

Dojima's footsteps sounded on the stairs, and then emerged from his room, looking a little bit glassy eyed and vaguely uncertain as he approached the group of guys. Instantly, some of the warm feelings that had been settling into Yu's heart deserted him.

There had been something wrong, something very obviously wrong with his uncle since Yu had first arrived at the house. Dojima had seemed distracted and confused, much shakier and less resolute than the way Yu always remembered and imagined him. At first, Yu had been sure that it was just age catching up, and that had been sad, if not unexpected. There was something in the delicate way that Nanako spoke to her father, though, and in the strange faraway looks that Dojima kept directing at nothing at all that made Yu realize that something else was wrong.

"You guys almost done?" asked Dojima. "We should start heading over to the Inn. Trust me; you don't want to start a marriage by keeping a lady waiting…especially not one like your Chie. She's no pushover, or at least that's what the boys at the station say."

Dojima smiled, but it was a distracted smile, and Yu felt something twist uncomfortably in his stomach.

"Yes," he said. "Let's go."

As they all walked out of the house together, with Yosuke, Kanji, and Teddie still arguing animatedly amongst themselves, Yu straightened himself up and took a deep breath. Dojima put an arm around his nephew's shoulder's, and gave him an encouragingly manly pat on the arm.

"You look good," he said. "Heh, it's still true. You're more handsome in person than in your pictures."

Yu wasn't quite sure what to say.

**Chapter 7: Chapter Five: Till Death Do Us Part**

**Author's Note: **Today, I am very restless. Just finished with two job interviews, neither of which felt like a fantastic success, although all is not yet lost. I just don't feel good about today. Maybe doing a little writing will cheer me up, let's see. Might be a good idea to stay away from Adachi, though…he's, uh, not really a "cheer me up" kind of character.

Instead, let's have a wedding!

**Chapter Five: Till Death Do Us Part**

Nanako, Yukiko, and Chie were already waiting at the shrine when Yu, Yosuke, and Dad arrived, both looking slightly nervous. Mr. and Mrs. Satonaka were there as well, and Mrs. Satonaka had already started to tear up, sniffling almost guiltily in the same way that Chie so often did when something unexpectedly emotional happened. Nanako had never met Chie's parents before, and she took a few minutes trying to decide whether Chie more closely resembled her mother or her father. There were definitely hints of both parents in Chie's face.

"Ah, Dojima-san!" called out Chie's father, striding over to shake the other man warmly and boisterously by the hand. "So," he said, "I guess this is finally it, huh? We're gonna be family! Won't that be, uh, really something to celebrate!"

Chie's father's voice was just a little bit too loud, as though the look Dad was giving him was making him uncomfortable.

_Chie takes after her father, _decided Nanako, thinking about the big, broad grin that so often accompanied Chie's own nervous laughter.

"Um, hey," said Yu, not quite looking at Chie. He coughed.

Through her veil, Chie gave him a shy sort of smile. "Wow," she muttered. "This is so awkward…can we get this over with and just skip to the good part, already? A celebratory meal at the Amagi Inn sounds soooo good right about now…"

Yu laughed. Nanako saw him reach out and squeeze Chie's hand, although he dropped it hastily as the priest approached the shrine. Instantly, everyone stood to attention, fidgeting and fumbling with their clothes for a few tense moments before the priest began to speak.

"I marry this woman," intoned the priest.

"I marry this woman," echoed Yu dutifully, in a much softer, smaller voice than the one he usually used.

"And I vow to love her," continued the priest, with Yu continuing to repeat every line, "no matter the state of her health. I vow to respect her, to console her, to assist her in times of trouble, and to remain faithful to her, till death do us part."

"Till death do us part," murmured Yu.

"My turn?" whispered Chie. Yukiko elbowed her in the ribs. Chie squeaked in protest.

"I marry this man," intoned the priest.

"I, uh, marry this man," muttered Chie.

"And I vow to love him," the priest went on, again with Chie repeating, "no matter the state of his health. I vow to respect him, to console him, to assist him in times of trouble, and to remain faithful to him, till death do us part."

"Yeesh," said Chie, "that's depressing. Uh, I mean, till death do us part! Right!"

Nanako giggled, and then managed to stifle the noise with one hand as the priest droned on.

"Yu Narukami," said the priest, "do you vow to become the partner of this woman, Chie Satonaka?"

"Hai, chikaimasu," said Yu. "I do."

"And you, Chie Satonaka," the priest went on, "do you vow to become the partner of this man, Yu Narukami?"

"Hai, chikaimasu," whispered Chie. "Yeah, I do."

The priest held out his hands, and smiled. "In that case," he said, "I now pronounce you as man and wife."

Slowly, Yu turned around, and lifted Chie's veil. Chie turned bright pink, but managed not to shy too far away from Yu as he leaned in and kissed her very carefully and very tenderly on the mouth.

Nanako couldn't contain herself anymore. She realized that she was bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, just trying to keep from crying out with joy. "Yay!" she exclaimed finally, rushing over to give both of her cousins an exuberant hug. "Congratulations, Big Bro, Chie!"

Yosuke grinned. "I guess you're gonna have to start calling Chie 'Big Sis' now, huh?" he suggested.

Chie glared at him. Yu started laughing in earnest. Chie's mother burst again into hysterically delighted sobbing.

The next few moments were a wonderful blur, as Yosuke and Yukiko rushed to congratulate their closest friends.

"You'd better be good to her," Yukiko cautioned Yu, waving one finger at him with an uncharacteristically fierce look on her face. "She's my best friend and she's an amazing person. She deserves to be treated like a queen!"

The idea of being 'treated like a queen' seemed to alarm Chie, whose eyes widened as she watched Yukiko bearing down on her brand new husband.

"Wha-what?" asked Yu. "Hey, Yukiko, what are you talking about? It's not like I'm some guy you don't know, or anything like that."

Yosuke shook his head, throwing an arm around Chie's shoulders. "Actually," he insisted, "I'd be more worried about Chie, here. Girl's a real firecracker, Yu's gonna have to watch out! Marriage is supposed to be all about compromise, right? Well, uh, that's never exactly been Chie-chan's thing…"

Angrily, Chie shook Yosuke's arm off, and then gave him an exasperated look. Even Yukiko started to laugh.

Nearby, Yukiko's parents were chatting animatedly with, or rather at Dad, who was nodding and smiling dutifully, glancing over at Nanako every now and then as though hoping for a rescue. Obediently, Nanako walked over and gave the Satonaka parents her most charming smile.

"We're so lucky to have you and Chie as a part of our family!" she announced. "I'm so excited that we're all going to get so spend some time together, now, Mr. and Mrs. Satonaka. Chie has always been so nice to us, and to Big Bro…oh, I mean, to Yu."

Dad looked instantly relieved. Nanako winked at him, and he laughed.

"Hey, guys!" called Yosuke, waving his arms over his head to try and get everyone's attention. "We'd better go over to the Inn, everyone's waiting!"

Chie perked up right up at that idea. "Great!" she said, tugging on Yu's arm. "Finally, we can eat! Oh, man, I am absolutely starving…I sure hope there's steak. I mean…this is my wedding party, right? There…kinda has to be steak."

Yukiko patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry," she assured her friend. "Mom and I planned the whole thing."

" So then, there is steak, right?" insisted Chie.

Still in very high spirits, the entire group made their way towards the Amagi Inn, where the celebration was supposed to continue.

**Chapter 8: Chapter Six: Riddles**

**Author's Note: **So, it has been brought to my attention that the summary for this story makes it sound as though this is going to be a Yu x Nanako story.

…It isn't. Eek. Creepy. But just in case, I have gone and fixed the summary to make it all a bit clearer. Hopefully that will help!

PS: Have any of you ever seen something called "Ouran High?" Dag and I just watched it, and I was like…what? Wha...I can't even.

Anyway, on to the chapter. I gotta go work on my next **M-Path **update, too!

**Chapter Six: Riddles**

The wedding party, as it turned out, was perfect. The chefs of the Amagi Inn had created, along with their usual delectably cultural affair, a series of choice and juicy steak dishes that had the bride's eyes almost bulging out of her head. Teddie, who was still technically a teenage boy, as far as anyone knew, tried to wheedle his way into a bottle of sake, and eventually begged Kanji to go and track one down for him. Once the drinking began, everything started to go downhill. Even Dojima loosened up considerably under the effects of the alcohol. The party stretched on until late into the night, and in the end, everyone decided to spend the night at the Inn. It was safer than driving or walking home.

It was sometime after midnight, or maybe even later that Yu finally felt himself falling asleep. With his wife settled in beside him, snoring pleasantly and stuffed with steak, Yu felt his eyelids beginning to close as he reflected on what had really been one of the best days of his life. It had been the ideal wedding, even for a guy like him, with all of his closest friends around him, preparing enthusiastically to start a new life with him at their side. Chie was far too real and human to ever be mislabeled the "woman of his dreams," and that was exactly how Yu wanted it. He loved her partially because of the chokehold she had on reality.

He was smiling to himself, picturing the look on her face when she'd raised her veil, when he suddenly realized that the surroundings had changed. Opening his eyes again, he found the world awash with bright blue light, and something deep and long-unused inside of him was suddenly and sharply at the ready. This, too, was a familiar place, and this place, too, contained poignant and powerful memories, although these memories were bittersweet, often terrifying while simultaneously triumphant.

_I suppose it's too much to hope that they've summoned me here just to congratulate me on my marriage, _he thought.

"Welcome," said Igor, smiling what looked almost like a genuine smile, "to the Velvet Room. It has been quite some time."

"Yeah," agreed Yu cautiously. "Yeah, it has. It's um…good to see you."

Margaret inclined her head. "And you as well," she murmured. "I understand that there may be…congratulations, in order."

The almost dismissive way that she said it made it very clear that the wedding wasn't going to be the main topic of conversation during this particular dream. Yu sighed and did his best not to be too disappointed.

"Why am I here?" he asked. "Why did you call me? The Midnight Channel vanished years ago. I haven't used my personas in forever. I live in a safer, wiser world, now. I'm not needed here, not anymore."

Igor gently shook his head. "Forgive me," he said, "but I fear that you are mistaken. Power such as yours will never go unnoticed nor could it be considered totally unnecessary in any world, especially in one governed and inhabited by humankind."

"Humans are marked by one particularly tragic flaw," intoned Margaret. "They are the only creatures on Earth who seem destined to repeat one error any number of times and yet to be continually surprised and alarmed by a predictable result."

_Riddles again, _thought Yu. _Always riddles. I used to be very good at riddles. This used to be fun. Maybe back when I was a kid, this felt more like a game. Now it's…well, it's annoying, really. I have no business here._

"I don't understand," he said, carefully polite despite his frustration. It didn't pay to get angry in the Velvet Room. It didn't pay to be emotional. There was a plan here, even if he wasn't privy to it. "What are you trying to tell me?"

"Your world will soon need a new hero," replied Margaret. "And in turn, that new hero will require the assistance of an old hero."

Yu opened his mouth to say something, but was distracted by the direction of Margaret's gaze. She was looking at something over his shoulder, and as Yu turned around to see what she was staring at, something cold and horrible thudded hard into the pit of his stomach, temporarily depriving him of anything to say.

Tohru Adachi, or at least the wasted husk of the person that Tohru Adachi had once been was slumped over on his side next to the door that Yu knew had once led out into the TV world. Adachi's hair had been shaved in prison, and had grown back in strange, tufty patches that stuck up oddly and made him look even more like the lunatic murderer that at least part of him had turned out to be. There were monstrous dark circles under his eyes, and he'd lost a lot of weight, which made his prison pajamas hang off him, giving him a bizarrely skeletal shape.

"Hi there," mumbled Adachi.

Yu took a deep breath. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "This is…this is my place. This is my mind, isn't it?" Turning around, he gave Igor and Margaret a questioning look. Neither of them said anything.

Adachi let out a raspy chuckle. "Heh," he muttered. "Figures. We've both got shitty luck."

Then, far more abruptly than it ever had before, the Velvet Room started to swim away as Yu's consciousness came rushing back to him all at once.

"No!" he shouted sitting bolt upright in bed and feeling the sweat pouring down his neck as he sucked in breaths of real-world air.

"Yu? What's going on? What…are you having a nightmare?"

Chie's arms were around him, and he stared at her for a moment, watching the puzzled fear on her face.

"It's…it's nothing," he managed, lowering himself back on to the futon. "Yes, it was a nightmare. I'm sorry, I must have had too much to drink."

Yawning, Chie lay down beside him, and curled up so that her head was resting on his shoulder. "Me too! Wow…so much sake." She sighed. "Don't worry," she mumbled sleepily. "It was just a dream. Anyway, dream or not, I'll beat the shit out of whatever it is that's bugging you…mmk? Nothing and nobody scares my husband and gets away with it. Nope! So, uh… go back to sleep."

Within a matter of minutes, Chie was already asleep. Yu watched her breathing, and tried forcing himself to relax.

_But it wasn't nothing, _he reminded himself. _It means something. I don't know what it means, but there's this horrible certainty that, like it or not, I'm going to find out._

It was very difficult for Yu to get back to sleep that night. He kept closing his eyes and then worrying that if he let himself doze off, he'd wake up in the Velvet Room again. Forcing himself to stay awake ended up feeling much safer.

**Meanwhile, at another room in the Amagi Inn…**

Long after midnight, Dojima wasn't having any luck falling asleep either. Nanako had gone off to have a makeshift slumber party with the other girls, and Dojima was sitting alone on his futon, clutching a half-empty bottle of sake in one hand and staring blearily into the turned-off TV screen. His head felt heavy and thick, and just moving it back and forth was a complicated process. It was easier, much easier to just stay still and wait for the alcohol to start wearing off…or kicking in.

Suddenly, the screen began to buzz and flicker with some kind of weird white noise. Dojima reached for the remote and pointed it at the screen, pressing the off button repeatedly. Nothing happened.

"The hell?" he muttered, shaking his head, then wincing and wishing he hadn't. "Damn thing's busted. Guess I should probably tell the staff about it in the morning. I…huh?"

There was a shadowy image on the screen, now, and Dojima frowned, trying to make out exactly what it was. He was almost certain that it was a human figure, and whoever it was had curves and contours that he was familiar with. It was definitely, he decided, a woman.

_Not that I've known that many women, _he told himself, _especially in recent years. Maybe I've been watching the tube too much. I'm starting to recognize some of those bimbo television stars and idols like I know 'em myself._

Abruptly, the image turned to the side, and loomed closer. Dojima's mouth fell open, and the sake bottle tumbled out of his hand and sprayed all over the carpeted floor.

For just a moment, there had been no mistaking that figure. No wonder Dojima had recognized it. He'd been running his fingers through her hair in his dreams for more years than he cared to count.

"Ch-Chisato?" he whispered.

The woman on the screen said nothing. Dojima continued to stare like a hungry, if bewildered man. He picked up the bottle again.

_This is great stuff, _he thought. _Wonder if there's still a little bit left…_

**Chapter 9: Chapter Seven: His Little Girl**

**Author's Note: **Don't let this chapter worry you too much. I promise that this story will actually go in a much happier direction than my stories usually do. That's…not saying much, exactly, but it won't be all doom and gloom all the time, you have my word.

**Chapter Seven: His Little Girl**

**October 6, 2022**

The morning after the wedding, Nanako woke up to the sound of someone moaning in pain.

"My head…" groaned Rise, lying sprawled out on her stomach on the floor, clutching her temples. "Oh god, it hurts so bad…"

Naoto, looking slightly groggy and pink around the cheeks, went to the bathroom to get Rise a glass of water. "There are reasons," she admonished quietly, "that we have spent our entire lives avoiding the unnecessary consumption of large amounts of alcohol. You have all been through high school, and through college. You 're aware of the negative side effects."

Gulping greedily at the water, Rise pouted. "You're so stiff and serious, Naoto-kun," she mumbled, wincing as speaking caused her head to hurt even more. "Come on, it's a celebration! Yu and Chie getting married, all of us back together again, for the first time in years! It's time to let loose a little, live dangerously! I can never relax when I'm touring…now might be my last chance for a while."

Naoto raised an eyebrow. "It certainly doesn't look very relaxing," she remarked. "Sleep deprivation and self-poisoning by overuse of substances are not typically considered healthy, but…to each their own, I suppose."

Rise gave Naoto a nasty little smile. "The only reason you didn't drink last night," she muttered, pointing an accusing finger at Naoto, "is because you were afraid that if you got drunk, you wouldn't be able to fend Kanji off, right? I saw him, I saw both of you! The moment you walked into the party he started hitting on you again."

Yukiko swept into the room, looking her usually poised and gorgeous self. "Just like old times," she murmured. "Nanako-chan, did you sleep well? I hope we didn't keep you up. A girl your age needs her beauty rest."

There was something strange about listening to a girl like Yukiko talk about "beauty rest," Nanako decided. She shrugged. "Oh, I'm fine. I got some sleep. Thank you for letting me stay in this room…I had a lot of fun, yesterday!"

_I don't remember the last time I went out with girlfriends…or with any friends at all, for that matter, _she thought, but opted not to say that out loud. After all, things were going to be different, now that Yu and his friends were back in town. No reason to go dampening the mood.

"Oh, sorry, Nanako!" Rise rolled over on to her back and blinked at Nanako. "You can go back to sleep, I'll be quiet…honest!"

All of the talk about alcohol, however, had reminded Nanako of something. Getting to her feet, she adjusted her pajamas and then headed towards the door. "I have to go check on Dad," she said, remembering suddenly just how many times she'd seen him with a bottle in his hand the night before. "Um, I'll be right back. Don't worry, Yukiko-san, I won't forget to return the pajamas!"

As Nanako left the room, Yukiko called out after her.

"Don't worry about it!" insisted Yukiko. "We'll be seeing much more of each other from now on, so you can bring them back later!"

Nanako padded quickly down the hall until she came to the room that she was sure had been assigned to her father. Knocking twice on the door, she called out, "Dad? Are you in there?" There was no response. Again, she tried, "Dad? Good morning! It's me, I just got up. Are you ready to go home, now? Everyone's leaving soon."

Again, there was silence. Carefully, Nanako reached out and pulled the door open, sticking her head inside. "Um…Dad?" she asked. "Are you…oh!"

Dad was still lying out on his futon, his legs curled up under him and his arms thrown out to either side. Next to one of his outstretched hands was an empty bottle of sake, and there was another empty bottle on the counter next to the bed. There was also drool running down the side of his face. Nanako closed her eyes in disgust.

"Not again," she murmured, walking over and nudging Dad's foot with her own. He mumbled something incoherent, but didn't open his eyes or get up. Nanako felt her throat beginning to tighten. Sinking down next to him on the floor, she took the bottle of sake away, stared at it, and then felt herself starting to cry.

"D-don't worry, Daddy," she squeaked, not sure if she was really speaking to her father, or more to herself. "It's going to get better now, remember? Big Bro's back, and Chie's here with him, and so is everybody else. It's gonna be just like before, again…and we're all going to be so happy. We're going to be really, really happy, just like before…"

The tears were coming harder and faster now, and Nanako found herself unable to hold back an audible sob. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she glanced up to see Yu watching her with concern in his eyes.

"Nanako," he asked, glancing down at Dad's still sleeping form. "What's going on here? Why are you crying?"

Nanako meant to be stoic, she honestly did. She meant to be the grown woman that her mother would have wanted her to be, and the good daughter who would have kept close all the family secrets. She tried as hard as she could, but there was a lonely little girl deep inside of her, crying out to be held and comforted, and for just one moment she gave into it and wrapped her arms around her older cousin's legs, sobbing into his pajama pants.

"I'm sorry, Big Bro," she whispered miserably. "I'm really sorry…this was supposed to be your day, and now I've gone and…"

Yu patted her on the head, and for once she didn't resent the gesture. "Yesterday was my day," he informed her. "Today can be yours. Come on. Tell me. You're not betraying anyone if you do. I've known that something was wrong here from the moment I walked into the house."

Nanako told him. She told him all about how Dad had been fired from his job only a few days before, after weeks or maybe even months of receiving fewer and fewer cases and assignments at the station. She told him about the nights Dad had spent just sitting up by himself, staring at the wall or reading the same newspaper over and over again. She told him that she could hear Dad's footsteps on the floorboards in the middle of the night, and that when she went to check on him all he ever told her was just to go back to sleep and let him be. She told Yu about the way Dad didn't seem to be listening most of the time, and that he drank too much, always too much. He didn't even usually drink with friends ore colleagues anymore, but sometimes just on the couch by himself after he came home from work, or even while Nanako was at school.

"He's bored," she finished eventually, "and he's lonely…he's so lonely. He's sad all the time, and then drinks, and drinks, and that only makes it worse. He hates being without anything to do, and he keeps going into the station to check up on things, but they don't want him there and that only makes it worse. I've tried everything, but there's nothing I can do, I'm not good enough. I'm not-!"

"That's not it," interrupted Yu. "Of course you're good enough. You're the most important thing in his whole world. You always have been. You know that."

Nanako shrugged miserably. "Maybe," she muttered. "But I can't make him smile anymore."

Yu took Nanako by the hand, and led her out of the hotel room. Closing the door behind them, he turned on her and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Ten years ago," he reminded her, "Uncle Dojima was struggling to juggle his work and his daughter. He wanted to have time for all of the people that needed him. He wanted to save the world, but he also wanted to be your Dad."

"Yeah," agreed Nanako. "Right, I know, but-!"

"But now," interrupted Yu, "he doesn't have either of those things. They let him go at work, didn't they? That's…got to be pretty rough on him. He always was kind of a workaholic."

"He still has me," said Nanako stubbornly.

Yu frowned. "But you're not a little girl anymore," he reminded her. "You're his little girl, but at the same time you're not. You're a woman. You don't need him…not anymore than the police do. You see?"

Nanako didn't know what to say.

Yu leaned down and kissed her on the top of the head. "Don't worry," he promised. "I'll talk to him. We'll snap him out of it together."

Yu gave her a smile as he walked away, and for a moment, Nanako considered following him. Instead, she ended up slipping back into her father's room, and sitting down next to him on the futon. What Yu had told her hurt somehow, even though it probably should have been something she already knew. After all, men at her Dad's age got confused and depressed all the time. Big Bro had promised to help her fix things up and to make Dad feel better, and that should have been enough.

"But I do need you, Daddy," she murmured. "Of course I do. Don't you know that?"

**Chapter 10: Chapter Eight: Parts of a Whole**

**Author's Note: **In somewhat unrelated news: You were all absolutely right, and thank you for the encouragement! I just found out that I did get the job that I applied for the other day, and I'm delighted. Thanks so much for all of your kind words!

**Chapter Eight: Parts of a Whole**

The morning after the wedding was another beautiful and sunny one. Still in the slightly hung-over throes of celebratory spirit, it didn't take long for the investigation team to agree to meet up later at their old familiar hang out. Yu and Chie were the last to leave the Inn, having had to stay behind for an extra hour at least to thank and bid goodbye to some of the lingering well-wishers who'd attended the party the night before.

"You know," Chie was saying, as she and Yu crossed the shopping district together, "the menu at Junes has improved a lot since the last time you were here. Just in the last few months, they've started trying out all these crazy new 'international cuisine' foods, and you know what? Some of them aren't so bad!"

Yu really did try to pay attention. Unfortunately, the events of that morning and the sight of his passed out uncle and his sobbing cousin had left a bad taste in his mouth. There had been that dream, as well, and try as he might, Yu couldn't shake the growing, sickening certainty that it had been way more than a dream.

Of course, over the last ten years Yu had dreamt of the Velvet Room several times. That hadn't bothered him. The place had been such an integral, exhilarating and terrifying part of his life that it made sense whenever it showed up in either his fantasies or his nightmares. Sometimes, he relived long abandoned moments that had taken place between him, Igor, and Margaret during that fateful murder investigation. Other nights he had nonsensical dreams, dreams in which Igor tried to reveal to him the location of a pair of missing, mismatched socks, or in which Margaret helped him plan the very best way to propose to his high school sweetheart. Those dreams were just silliness, the product of an overactive imagination and a subsequent trip down memory lane.

What had happened last night, however, had been different. There had been nothing either silly or nostalgic about it. _No, _he decided. _Last night was real. I really went to the Velvet Room again. I'm sure of it._

"Hey, are you listening?" asked Chie, snapping Yu suddenly out of his uncomfortable reverie. "What's wrong? Oh, are you still thinking about that nightmare? What was it about, anyway? You look kinda down. You're not, um…you're not disappointed, are you?"

Chie stared at the ground, and scuffed one foot idly across the pavement. Yu blinked at her in surprise.

"Disappointed?" he asked. "What would I be disappointed about?"

Chie bit her lip. You know," she mumbled. "About…about me, I guess. About the wedding. You're not wishing you hadn't done it, are you? Uh, it's just cause, I know I'm not exactly what you'd usually think of as a fairytale bride, or anything…"

"What?" asked Yu, genuinely shocked. Then, he shook his head violently. "No, Chie, no, it has nothing to do with that. Why would you even think that?" He wasn't much for public displays of affection, which frankly made him a bit uneasy, but he leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, which, even after years of long-distance dating, made Chie turn a little bit red.

"I'm happy I married you," he reassured her. "There isn't anybody else I'd want to be with. Not ever. I promise, okay? So, don't worry. There's nothing to worry about."

Chie gave him a little smile. "Sure," she mumbled. "Right. Okay. Thanks, I guess."

Yu smiled back. "I just have some stuff to think about. Tell you what; why don't you go on ahead and meet up with everybody. Tell them I'm on my way. That'll give the girls some time to fuss over you, especially Yukiko. I'll be there in a few minutes."

Somewhat reluctantly, Chie continued on to Junes, leaving Yu alone in the shopping district. He waited until she was out of sight, and then turned around and walked a few blocks back towards where he was sure the door to the Velvet Room had once been. Every time he'd visited Chie and his friends since they'd solved the case years ago, the door had been missing, and Yu had eventually stopped looking for it, assuming that it, like him, was no longer needed to save the world.

Now, however, he saw the door glimmering invitingly, exactly where he'd expected to find it.

Long ago, of course, he'd stopped carrying the Velvet Room key around, and so when he pushed on the door, Yu fully expected it not to open. Instead, and perhaps somewhat to his chagrin, the door slid forward as soon as he touched it, and he soon found himself standing in the midst of the familiar space between mind and matter.

"Excellent," murmured Igor. "I had so hoped that you'd return to us."

"That makes one of us," muttered Adachi from the same place on the floor that Yu had seen him in the night before.

"You summoned me," said Yu quietly. "You told me that the world is going to need a new hero, and an old hero. I'm here, now. Tell me, what's going on? What did you mean, when you said those things about human beings making the same mistakes and being surprised by the results?"

Margaret and Igor exchanged an unreadable look.

"Your world will soon again be threatened," murmured Margaret. "Once before, you solved a mystery and defeated a great and manipulative evil that threatened to overpower the human consciousness and engulf what remained of your world."

From the floor, Adachi chuckled bitterly. "Jeez," he muttered, "don't flatter me like that; it'll go to my head."

Margaret gave him a disparaging look. "I am referring," she clarified curtly, "to the goddess Izanami and her plan to create a world inspired by the deepest and darkest parts of human desire. Now, a new foe threatens to continue that work. Again, you are called upon to demonstrate the power of persona and to champion the human world."

"A new evil," murmured Yu, feeling a little shudder run down his spine. "But…I don't understand, what new evil? What could be more dangerous than a goddess with a mission?" Glancing over at Adachi, he added, "and what is he doing here? You said before, we solved that mystery. We put him in prison, and that was a long time ago. We closed that case; it's over…unless you're trying to tell me that Adachi has something to do with this new evil you're talking about."

Adachi gave Yu a wide-eyed, sarcastically innocent look. "Who, me?" he asked. "Seriously, do I look like I could hurt anybody, even if I wanted to? I can barely get off the damn floor."

_He has a point, _reflected Yu. _Prison's broken him. I suppose he had that coming. No, I know he did._

Despite that thought, Yu had a hard time meeting the eyes of the man whom he'd once known only as his uncle's jokester of a partner, and the man who'd come over for dinner a few nights out of the week to lend a little more festive spirit to the often dour atmosphere of the Dojima dining table.

"Yeah, do us both a favor, and save your pity," snarled Adachi, apparently reading the look on Yu's face. "Don't go all bleeding heart on me, now. You're the one that put me away, right? What, having second thoughts all of a sudden?"

"No," murmured Yu. "No, I'm not."

"Heh." Adachi settled back against the wall. "Didn't think so." He turned his back to the other three.

"His power is very strong," continued Margaret, as though the interruption had never taken place. "Much as yours is. His power and yours, in fact, are made from the same mold. They are one; two halves of the same whole. What differs between you is only the choices you have made. Those choices and the subsequent paths down which you have gone have determined the nature of your fortunes."

"There will come a time in the very near future," remarked Igor, "in which you are both called upon to take up the mantle of the Wild Card. Each of you alone is a formidable opponent, but combined your powers would be unmatched. Your combined powers alone will be sufficient to defeat the force of evil that now begins to creep into your world."

"Aw, hell," spat Adachi. "Hey, come on, I don't think either of us really deserves to be insulted like that…right, dumbass? We've got nothing in common. Never had."

Yu ignored him, or at least he tried. "So," he asked Igor, "what am I supposed to do, now?"

Igor nodded slowly. "Now," he said, "you shall return to your friends. You will require their help as well if you are going to succeed in your quest. Until another time, then. Farewell."

Yu knew better than to stick around. Once Igor and Margaret had said what they'd intended to say, there was nothing else for him, here. He did take a moment to consider whether or not it was safe to let Adachi remain in the confines of what Yu had, until recently, considered the inner sanctum of his own mind, but as long as Igor had a hold on him, it probably couldn't get too out of hand.

_At least, I hope it can't, _thought Yu, as he stepped back out of the Velvet Room and into the shopping district.

To his surprise, as soon as he re-entered the real world, Yu found Chie and Yosuke standing side by side in front of the Velvet Room door, waiting for him.

"Wha…Chie?" he asked, startled." Yosuke? What are you two doing here? I thought you'd be at Junes with the others. Chie, I told you I'd be there in a few minutes, you didn't have to-!"

"Seriously?" asked Yosuke, rolling his eyes. "That's how you're gonna play it? Jeez…I really thought you could trust us a little more than this. What gives?"

Chie frowned. "Look, I'm sorry I told Yosuke," she said defensively, "but I'm getting really worried! Last night you had some weird dream, and you've been distracted all morning. Then all of a sudden you want to go off on your own because you've got 'some stuff to think about?' What was I supposed to do? You're freaking me out!"

Yu glanced back and forth between Yosuke and Chie, trying to figure out what to say.

"Hey," said Yosuke. "Did you forget? Back when this whole thing started, we agreed that none of us were gonna try to do any of this alone, right?"

"Right," agreed Yu.

Yosuke shrugged. "So? What's different, now? Nothing, that's what. Come on, partner, what the hell is going on here? If it's not cold groom's feet, then what is it? We've got your back. Right, Chie?"

Chie nodded quickly, and Yu felt something warm swelling up in his chest and doing its best to dispel all of the fear he'd just been feeling over Igor's words or Adachi's grimaces.

"Right," he said. "Right, um. Sorry. Of course. Listen, there's something I need to tell you two. Something that you may not want to believe."

Yosuke and Chie listened attentively. Yu took a deep breath, and told them.

**Chapter 11: Chapter Nine: We Could Be Heroes**

**Author's Note: **Okay! So, after last night's epic Chie-binge, I'm going to get back in the saddle and keep working on this story!

Oh, by the way, if you're reading the story, but haven't reviewed yet, would you mind dropping me a review or a note to let me know that you're reading? I don't expect you to review every chapter, or even necessarily to review more than once, but I do like to know who's reading the story. Honestly, it's totally selfish. I'm a social junkie, and I really like getting to know my readers…it's one of my favorite parts of this whole experience!

All right, that's enough out of me. Story time!

**Chapter Nine: We Could Be Heroes**

Not twenty minutes later, the entire former investigation team was gathered around their favorite table in the Junes food court, listening raptly to the story that Yu was relating, now for the second time. He told them everything, just as he had told Chie and Yosuke. That is, he told them everything, except about Adachi. Yu Narukami had a way with people. He tended to know what made them tick, and he was beyond certain that mentioning Adachi's name in this conversation would create only chaos, and not sway the tide of public opinion in his favor at all.

"W-wait, just hang on a second," muttered Kanji, clenching his fists against the tabletop. "You're seriously saying we gotta do this whole thing over again? What the hell is up with that? I thought we took care of that Izanami creep and her crazy ideas years ago!"

"Calm down, Kanji-kun," murmured Naoto. Kanji went instantly quiet. "That's not precisely what Yu-senpai told us. Please, senpai, tell us again. What were the exact words that Margaret and Igor used when you spoke to them just now?"

Yu had to spend a moment thinking about that, trying to pick exactly what he'd been told out of all the strange and mostly unwelcome feelings that had overcome him during that little interaction. "Margaret said," he told her, "that 'a new foe threatens to continue Izanami's work.' That's…I think that's about as close to the exact words as I can remember."

Naoto nodded slowly. "As I suspected," she said thoughtfully, perhaps more to herself than to any of the others. "You're right, of course, Kanji-kun. We did defeat the goddess Izanami many years ago, and perhaps we even defeated her for good. That mystery has been solved. It is not that evil, but a brand new menace that this warning tells us of. A new foe, apparently, that intends to carry on in the footsteps of the goddess Izanami, and to continue her well-intentioned if ill-informed assault against humankind."

"That…doesn't make me feel any better," muttered Kanji miserably. "Damn…I was really ready to take it easy for a change."

Yosuke shook his head. "What are you talking about? Kanji, you've been taking it easy for years…we all have. What are we even complaining about? We're humanity's heroes, aren't we? So, this is what heroes do. They save the day! This is totally our thing. We've got this, right guys?"

There was a less than enthusiastic murmur from the rest of the team. Chie bit her lip.

"Maybe it has been a little bit boring around here since we solved those murders," she agreed hesitantly. "But…we saved people. At least, I thought we did. That was what we were trying to do, all that time…and now it turns out that everyone's still in danger? What does it all mean?"

"I was looking forward to being bored and happy for a while," mumbled Yukiko. "I kind of liked it."

"I've got a career now," added Rise unhappily. "I'm out in public and doing shows all the time. Maybe…maybe I don't even have the time to be a hero. I don't know…"

"Come on, guys…" Yosuke looked a little deflated. "Jeez, what happened to us? When we were in school, we would have never let ourselves talk like this; we would have hated hearing it. This is the kind of stuff that the police were saying. You know, stuff like "we probably couldn't convict him anyway, cause there's not enough evidence," or "there are too many other cases going on for us to spend all of our time worrying about this one." They gave up. That's why we got so pissed off. So…is that us, now? Are we gonna be the ones who give up?"

Rise sighed. "We're not in school anymore, Yosuke," she reminded him. "We're not kids. It's just not the same."

"The magic is gone, now," agreed Yukiko sadly. "This is the real world. We're not invincible. What if one of us gets hurt? We just all found each other again, after so long…I don't want to risk losing any of you."

"The odds of surviving two such experiences as the one that we have undergone," agreed Naoto, "are extremely low."

Yosuke slammed his fist down on the table, rocking the flimsy plastic thing a bit in his frustration. "This is crazy," he shouted. "Who are you people? What happened to my friends? I thought I could count on you. I thought Yu could count on you! That's all that matters, isn't it? If you haven't got somebody's back, then what the hell have you got?"

Again, murmurs ran through the group. People talked amongst themselves in hushed voices, shifting uncomfortably in their seats.

It was Chie who finally spoke up, nodding slowly and biting her lip as she stood up from the table. "Well," she informed them, "he can count on me. You all can. I don't like it…not even a little bit, but Yosuke's right. We have to look out for each other. If we sit around and do nothing, then someone will get hurt, and it won't just be us, either. It'll be everyone, our whole world. All of our friends and families, too."

"We were given this power for a purpose," murmured Naoto. "Turning back now does not seem a reasonable option."

Kanji shrugged. "I never said I wasn't up for it," he reminded them. "I'm just pissed off that we have to start all over, that's all. Hell, if there's ass to be kicked, count me in!"

As each of his friends began to add his or her voice, one by one, to the rising cacophony of approval, Yu glanced over at Teddie, who had so far been totally silent. He was sitting at the far end of the table, watching the others with wide eyes.

"Teddie?" asked Yu. "What do you think?"

Teddie frowned. "I haven't been back to my world in almost ten years," he said. "I don't know if I still belong there. Maybe I can't help, the way I did before. I'm not a shadow anymore, not really. I'm…something else. I don't know."

Kanji's hand came down hard on Teddie's shoulder, making him wince a bit. "Duh," he muttered. "Course you don't belong in that other place. You belong in our world, Ted. That's how you're gonna help us. You're one of us, now. How many friggin times do we have to tell you that?"

Teddie gave Kanji a hesitant smile, and the others rushed in to reassure him. There were smiles popping up all around, now, as friends encouraged and cajoled each other into better moods and increased confidence.

Yosuke gave Yu a relieved sort of smile. "Wow," he mumbled. "That was a lot harder than I thought…I guess I'm kinda off my game when it comes to this pep talk, thing."

"You did great," Yu told him. "Really, thank you."

"Yeah, maybe," agreed Yosuke. "I meant's not like this is really my job anyway. You're supposed to be the man with the plan, right? You're the one who gets people all fired up."

Looking Yu squarely in the eyes, he asked, "So? What's it gonna be, leader? What do we do now?"

Yu took a deep breath.

**Chapter 12: Chapter Ten: Abject Disappintment**

**Author's Note: **I hope those of you who live in my part of the world had a wonderful fourth of July Anyone who wasn't celebrating the fourth, I hope you had a wonderful day.

I'm a little discouraged today…that last chapter of M-Path is going to have to be rewritten. I'll try to work on that when I get home from rehearsal, but in the meantime, here's a short **Dreamgirl** to tide you over until I can clean that up.

Oh, and I should have mentioned this before: this story is based around the events of Persona 4: The Golden, and so you'll see several references in this story to events and conversations that took place as a part of the Adachi social link. If you're not familiar with that link, don't worry, the story will still make sense. You may just have to take my word for some of his characterization, though. Alternatively, you could go check his link out on youtube. That'll clear that issue right up!

**Chapter Ten: Abject Disappointment**

Back at the Dojima residence, Nanako and her father were sitting opposite each other at the kitchen table, neither of them saying a word. Dad was on his fourth cup of coffee, and Nanako was relieved to see that he was beginning to look less dazed and significantly more human by the moment.

"Nanako," he muttered, not meeting her eyes. "Look…I'm sorry about this morning. You shouldn't have had to see that. I guess it wouldn't be the first time, though."

"Its okay, Dad," Nanako insisted, shaking her head. "You don't have to say anything. I understand."

For some reason, that made Dojima laugh, although it was more of a half-hearted mumble, unlike his usual hearty chuckle. "I hope you don't," he told her. "I hope you never understand. If there's anything a father could want for his daughter, then it's-!"

"I miss Mom too," said Nanako quietly.

Dad opened his mouth in surprise, then sighed, and ran a nervous hand along the back of his neck, looking frustrated. "It was just…the wedding, I guess. Every time I think that maybe I'm starting to move past it, something else comes up to remind me of your mother…and maybe, that's how I want it. You gotta forget a little, if you really want to move on. Maybe I don't want to forget. Seeing your cousin and his new wife, looking awkward and ridiculous like newlyweds always do…it just made me think of her, that's all."

Nanako nodded. She'd expected something like that.

"It's been hard on you lately, Nanako," muttered Dad. "Look, I promise I'm gonna clean myself up and start getting my act together. Probably gotta do some work on this house, too. It's big enough for the two of us, but with both your cousins living upstairs, it might get a little tight. Lots of guys like that home renovation stuff. People say I need to find a hobby."

The idea of her father barking impatient orders at some poor, beleaguered team of builders made Nanako smile to herself and cringe at the same time. "We'll figure it out," she assured him. "Maybe I'll start getting into more trouble…after all, I am seventeen. Seventeen year old girls are supposed to be difficult, aren't they? Maybe I should start going to parties, or meeting boys."

She meant it as a joke, although the idea of getting out, seeing friends, and maybe even dating sent a little appealing thrill down her spine. Nanako had always been proud of her status as an excellent student and a well-behaved daughter, but every now and then she envied those girls who she caught smoking or talking about late-night dates by their lockers after school. Those girls never seemed lonely or bored. They were always excited about something.

Dojima raised an eyebrow at her, and then grinned. "Don't even think about it," he muttered, in his best no-nonsense Dad voice. "You start missing your ten o'clock curfew and I'll send the whole of the Inaba police department out looking for you."

Nanako flinched, and tried not to show it. Unfortunately, she wasn't quick enough, and Dad noticed. His smile faded for a moment, and he sighed. "Yeah, uh, right…not like they're gonna come when I call anymore, huh? Oh, well." He shook his head. "Doesn't matter. I'm your father; I'll find something to keep you from sneaking around at night. You just keep behaving yourself. Making extra trouble for me's only gonna make me get old faster." Grimacing, he added, "Not like I need the extra help."

"You're not old, Dad," insisted Nanako.

Dojima laughed. "Yeah? Well, I'll tell you something. I'm starting to feel old. I guess it happens to everyone, eventually...somehow, though, I never really thought it would happen to me."

**Meanwhile, inside the TV World…**

Adachi, having finally left the Velvet Room under protest, stood with Margaret in the midst of the place that had once been a part of him. The strange reds, golds, and browns of the scenery, broken up by seemingly unending loops of yellow caution tape had then been a chillingly accurate depiction of the landscape of Adachi's soul.

_Caution, _he thought. _Keep the fuck out. Yeah, that pretty much sums it up._

He'd never liked this place. He'd hated it, actually, and still did. Nevertheless, it was a sanctum, or at least a place that he felt perversely attached to, as though he belonged. This was a different kind of prison, a prison constructed to protect him, rather than to wall him in.

_Same thing in the end, though, _he realized.

Now, so many years after he'd first come here, the place was a wasteland. The once vibrant colors were dull and graying, and the tape was fraying and fluttering in the breeze. It looked like he felt, and fit him effortlessly, matching the stuff inside his head, and creating itself to suit him. It was his place, and it was pretty clear that no one besides him had spent any time here in ages.

"Why'd you bring me here?" he asked Margaret.

"To show you," murmured Margaret. "I wish for both of us to have the opportunity to determine what you are truly capable of."

_You know what I'm capable of, _thought Adachi. _All this, all this decaying shit. This is what I'm capable of. This is what I created. _Part of him was pretty damn proud of it. The rest of him was disgusted. That was usually the way. He'd gotten so used to second guessing himself that he'd long ago stopped thinking too hard about most things. There were always too many sides, too many complications. Easier, always, to act now and ask questions later. That way it would be out of his control by the time he'd started to feel shitty about it.

He shrugged. "Okay," he said. "So, what do I do?"

Margaret raised a hand languidly in the air. Instantly, something began materializing in front of her, growing slowly more and more solid out of a blurry mass of red and black. Soon, it was a shadow, blinking menacingly at Adachi through its fierce little yellow eyes. Adachi stumbled backwards.

"You can call them?" he demanded unnecessarily.

Margaret watched him expectantly. The shadow made its move. Rushing at him full-tilt, it lunged, claws outstretched, and raked him hard across the upper body, drawing rivulets of blood. Adachi gasped and brought his arms up instinctively to protect his torso. The shadow paused a moment, apparently considering him, and then went for his face.

"Call your persona," commanded Margaret.

Adachi shook his head, breathing hard against the pain. Pain, though, was something he'd gotten very good at. Pain had been a staple of the last ten years of his miserable life, and Adachi was a survivor. Gritting his teeth, he swallowed, and rasped out "N-no…No way."

Margaret was losing her patience. "Why not? You are destined to be the Wild Card, the future savior of humankind. You are a guest of the Velvet Room, and you have signed the contract. The way is clear before you…why do you resist?"

"Dumbass question," muttered Adachi. "You know damn well why."

Again the shadow attacked, and again, Adachi tried to defend himself. This time, a blow from the shadow's fist threw him to the ground, and as Adachi lay there, focusing on the exquisite pain, something deep inside him began to stir and call to him, trying to bubble up to the surface from the darkest places of what he'd once thought of as his soul. He closed his eyes and willed it away, tried to shove it back down and into the very back corner of his mind where he wouldn't have to feel it begging to be set free.

Margaret made a disappointed little noise in the back of her throat. Then, as Adachi watched, both horrified and very impressed, Margaret summoned her own persona, and delivered a crushing final blow to the shadow that instantly burst it into red and black essence, which dispersed in moments and was quickly no more.

As soon as the shadow was gone, the stirrings in Adachi's soul began to subside. He felt sick, and started looking around for somewhere to throw up. Margaret was gazing down at him with abject disappointment written all over her face.

Adachi didn't care. It wouldn't be the first time. Right now he needed a bucket. _Priorities first, _he thought.

**Chapter 13: Chapter Eleven: Showtime**

**Author's Note: **Still plugging away at the next chapter on **M-Path, **as well as on a secret collaboration project that I think is really exciting!

In the meantime, though, here's what I stayed up working on last night instead of doing any of the things I really should have been doing…like sleeping, for example.

Now, over the next few chapters of this story, a lot of plot is going to happen very quickly. Everything will be explained eventually, I promise. Remember, though, this is a mystery, so if it doesn't all make sense at the beginning, then that's probably intentional, and it wouldn't be much fun any other way! Still, your questions are always appreciated; they help me figure out what I'm doing right, and what I'm doing wrong!

**Chapter Eleven: Showtime**

"Sure doesn't look like anybody's home," announced Chie, as she and Yukiko stepped through one of the TVs in the Junes food court.

Yu and Yosuke stepped through as well, followed by Naoto, Kanji, Rise and Teddie.

"Man," sighed Yosuke, "what a relief! Looks like this one leads to the same place in the TV world that our old TV used to go. I'll be honest, I was getting pretty worried when I realized they'd finally sold that old thing. Not that we should be surprised…I mean, if they hadn't sold it by now, they definitely would have scrapped it. I don't even think they make that old model anymore."

Chie shook her head. "Well, I wasn't worried," she asserted. "I mean, it does make sense, right? This TV is in the same exact place that the old one used to be. So, it'd probably lead to the same place, right?"

Naoto frowned, gazing around at the old familiar landscape of the other world. "Not an unreasonable assumption," she murmured, "but perhaps an unnecessarily risky one. This might have ended badly. We should exercise more caution, particularly if, as senpai says, there is new danger to be wary of."

"Wow," exclaimed Teddie, his eyes wide. "This place hasn't changed at all. It even smells the same." He was now wearing his bear suit again, and Yu found himself grinning, watching his old friend waddling back and forth and struggling to get used to the motion and mechanics of what had once been an irremovable part of his body.

"How come you're wearing the bear costume?" asked Yosuke, frowning. "Haven't seen that thing in a while. You forget to do laundry, or something?"

"It is pretty cute," mumbled Kanji, not meeting anyone's eyes. "You're a lot cuter when you're all fuzzy like that…"

Teddie shrugged. "I just thought it seemed appropriate," he told them. "I mean, this is the first time that I've been back in my old home, and all…so it seems like maybe I should wear the same thing I was wearing when you first met me. It's nostalgic!"

Rise rolled her eyes. "Aw, Teddie," she said, patting him on the furry shoulder. "You're such a sap."

Teddie beamed at her. Drawing himself up to his full height, he said, "Why thank you, Rise-chan!"

Yosuke shook his head. "I…don't think that was a compliment, Ted."

With Yu and Yosuke in the lead, the team headed for the place that they'd once all banded together to defeat Tohru Adachi. Subsequently, they soon found themselves in that same, horrible room, creepily decorated with mutilated posters of Misuzu Hiiragi's face.

"Damn," mumbled Yosuke. "So this place is still here, huh?"

Teddie shook his head. "No," he insisted. "That's not right. This was all supposed to have disappeared years ago, when everything went back to normal. My world was going to be peaceful again. This was all over…I'm sure of it."

"Well, if that's true," said Chie, "then it came back, for whatever reason. I mean…its here now, right? That's what's important."

Yu wasn't really listening to their conversation. Instead, he was watching the entrance to Magatsu Inaba, trying not to let himself get distracted by the swirling vortex of reds and blacks that marked a portal into another part of the TV World.

"It's all still here," he murmured, more to himself than to anyone else. Yosuke heard him, and glanced up at the portal. His eyes narrowed.

"Maybe we'd better go and check out that place," he said, stepping over to the portal. "If anything bad's gonna come out of this world, then you can bet we're gonna find it in there…in Adachi's mind."

"But Adachi's in prison," Yukiko reminded them. "And that letter he sent us…I don't think he was planning to make any trouble. He sounded…almost sorry. At least, he wanted to help. That's sort of like remorse, I think."

"To hell with that," snarled Yosuke. "Still, you're right about one thing…if he's locked up, then I guess he can't hurt anybody, right?"

Suddenly, Yu began feeling very uncomfortable. _I have to tell them, _he decided. _Better now than later. They're not going to like it, especially Yosuke. Still, if I can't trust him, then who can I trust?_

"Hey, maybe he's dead," mused Kanji. "I hear prison's hell for murderers and creeps like that. Guy never had much of a backbone, you know what I'm saying? He probably croaked years ago."

"Tch," muttered Yosuke. "Like I care one way or another. Long as he's gone, I'm happy."

"Yosuke," began Yu, steeling himself and preparing to deliver a piece of what was going to be extremely unwelcome news. "There's something I have to-!"

"Actually," interrupted Yosuke's voice from somewhere behind Yu's left shoulder, "I have to tell you something. I…haven't been completely honest with you guys, now have I? I'd be pretty pissed off if it turned out that Adachi was dead. You see, I've been hoping all this time that maybe someday, just maybe, I'll have the chance to kill that piece of shit myself!"

Yosuke's eyes went wide, and he sucked in a sharp breath. Yu spun around to face the speaker, who, as expected, wore Yosuke's face, twisted into an unpleasant sneer beneath of pair of glowing yellow eyes.

"What the hell?" shouted Yosuke. "No way, this is impossible. You're.." He put a hand up to his heart, glancing down at his chest. "Wait, aren't you? Come, Takehaya Susano-o!"

Yosuke's persona shot out of him and then it stood in between Yosuke and what appeared to be his shadow, staring the shadow down.

"This…this makes no sense," mumbled Teddie unhappily. "I saw you defeat your shadow, Yosuke…Sensei and I both saw it. Right, Sensei?"

"Right," agreed Yu, nodding slowly.

"And he still has his persona," added Chie. "So, I don't get it. Who's this guy?"

Kanji cracked his knuckles. "Maybe we'll find out after we beat him," he muttered.

Yosuke's shadow, however, made no move to attack.

"Who are you?" asked Yu. "What do you want with Yosuke?"

Still, the shadow continued to sneer, unmoved and undaunted. For several moments, no one said anything, their eyes all focused on the shadow, which was focused, in turn on Yosuke's persona. The atmosphere was so tense that a butter knife could have sliced it open.

Finally, Yosuke came forward, stepping around his persona to meet the shadow head on. "Tell me," he said. "Who are you? What's this all about?"

Hesitantly, Yosuke reached out to touch the shadow, who didn't shy away from the contact. As Yosuke's fingertips brushed the shadow's shoulder, the shadow's face suddenly began to twist and change, dissolving for a moment in a blinding flash of light. When the light faded, Yu was able to open his eyes again and look back at the shadow. He was alarmed to see that it had taken on a new form, and not an unrecognizable one. The shadow was now the image of a girl in Yasogami uniform, with long curly hair and grey eyes. There was a disappointed little pout on her face, as she raised one eyebrow at Yosuke. Yosuke dropped his arm back to his side and stared, shocked and confused, into Saki Konishi's eyes.

"Hana-chan," said Saki, reaching out to him with both arms. "I never had the chance to tell you…"

"I…wh-what?" stammered Yosuke.

"It's a trick, Yosuke," called Chie. "Some sort of freaky shadow trick. She's…she's dead, remember?"

Saki shook her head. "Nah, I'm okay," she said. "Thanks, though!"

Yosuke blinked. "Wait…what?" he asked. "What's that supposed to mean? Are you trying to tell me that you aren't really dead?"

"Yosuke," insisted Chie urgently, hurrying forward and grabbing him by the arm. Without even looking at her, Yosuke shook her off again. Chie glanced desperately at Yu, who gritted his teeth.

"I don't understand," whispered Yosuke.

Unexpectedly, Saki laughed. The sound sent a visible shudder down Yosuke's spine, and he took a step closer to her. "I know, I know," she told him, shaking her head. "I'm just kidding."

"It sounds just like her," Yosuke was mumbling. "Her same voice…her same laugh…she's just the way I remember her being. This can't be a trick…I mean, even the shadows can't get that close to reality. Our shadows never sounded quite like us, remember? They were always a little…off, sorta. This is different, this seems…real!"

Yu looked over at Teddie, who was frowning with a combination of annoyance and concern. _Shadows can be very human_, thought Yu. _So human that they might as well be the real thing. No one can even tell the difference with Teddie…most of the time, anyway._

"Yosuke," began Yu again, a bit more forcefully.

The shadow of Saki lifted one hand, and brushed her fingers teasingly along the underside of Yosuke's jaw. He leaned forward into her touch, and Yu saw him swallow hard against an upswell of emotion.

Suddenly, Saki's eyes changed. They turned yellow and hard, and the fingers that were clutching Yosuke's face warped and mutated into claws. Instantly, Chie and Yu were on either side of Yosuke, their personas materializing alongside them even as they moved into position.

"No!" insisted Yosuke, throwing out one arm to block Yu's advance. "Hey, don't hurt her! Something's wrong, here, I need some time to figure this out!"

Then, Saki's face began to change, stretching and elongating into something birdlike and hooked. Huge clipped gray wings sprouted out of her back, and one of them fell limply to her side while the other beat fiercely at the air as though in an attempt to fly.

"Sorry," snarled Kanji, as he and the others formed up around Yosuke as well. "Time's up, man." Rise summoned her persona, and closed her eyes.

"Ready guys?" asked Rise. "It's showtime!"

"No, I said stop!" shouted Yosuke, turning on the others and presenting his back to the shadow. The shadow made a lunge for him, beak open and aiming for the back of his neck.

**Chapter 14: Chapter Twelve: Let Me Go**

**Author's Note: **Shameless self-plugging time! For any of you who haven't seen it already, I also have a story posted on here called **Daydreams**, which is a collection of little one-shots and companion pieces based around this story, **Dreamgirl. **It's where I'm keeping all of the one-shots that I like to write when working on a long story. I'd be so happy if you'd take the time to check it out!

**Chapter Twelve: Let Me Go**

"Aagh!" the shadow's beak bit hard into Yosuke's neck, staggering him and sending him thudding onto his face on the ground.

"Yosuke!" cried Chie, reaching down to pull him to his feet. "Are you okay?"

Meanwhile, Yu was thinking hard, and as fast as he could. The shadow of Saki was now looking far more like a vulture than like a woman. "It's a bird," he muttered to himself. "A bird…probably a wind type. Kanji!"

"Okay!" grunted Kanji, stepping forward. "Takeji Zaiten! Ziodyne!"

Kanji's persona reared up, clutching its crimson sword and dwarfing every other figure in the fight. A bolt of powerful lightening leapt forth from inside it, zapping the shadow vulture. Enraged, the shadow screeched in pain, and spun around, abandoning Yosuke in favor of other targets. Chie took that opportunity to plant herself firmly between Yosuke and the shadow.

"Right," mumbled Yu. "Izanagi No Okami…Ziodyne."

Yu attempted the same attack that Kanji had, again successfully inuring the shadow.

"We've got this," shouted Kanji, grinning. "Piece of cake, right?"

"Bufudyne!" shouted Chie. Her persona attempted to freeze the shadow.

"Wait, Chie!' called Rise. "No, don't!"

It was too late. As the ice connected with the shadow's form, the shadow suddenly reared back, crowing triumphantly. It shook its wings and seemed to gain even greater strength.

"Wha…what" asked Chie, her eyes wide. "Wait, it absorbs ice? How does that make any sense?"

"It's a shadow of Saki Konishi," Rise reminded them. "Yosuke said it himself; it's really lifelike! You told me once that she was always kind of an ice queen."

"Yeah, well…" Chie looked frustrated. "Why didn't you tell me that before I attacked it?"

"I tried!" insisted Rise. "Anyway, um…I'm, uh, a little out of practice, okay?"

There wasn't much time for further small talk. The shadow vulture made a swipe with its beak at Chie's unprotected shoulder and Yu had to close ranks quickly to block the attack. Again, he and Kanji threw lightning attacks at it, but this time the shadow simply veered out of the way, using the power of its un-hindered wing. It then turned around and drove its beak straight for Yu's chest. He took the blow, gasping as the sharp pain hit home. Yukiko was quick to rush to his aid, while Teddie stood by, guarding them both against any attacks that might take place while Yukiko was in the process of healing Yu's wounds.

"We need to alternate our attacks," murmured Naoto. "If one of us can successfully distract it, another can attack before it has the chance to dodge out of our range."

"Great," muttered Kanji. "So, which of us is gonna be the bait?"

Both Naoto and Yu looked at Kanji. He groaned. "Figures," he muttered. "Okay, hang on. Here I go."

The rest of the battle went relatively quickly, once they managed to put Naoto's plan into action. Working carefully, like the team they'd once been, they brought the shadow down and weakened it enough to leave it panting for breath on the floor, with even its one good wing apparently exhausted from the barrage of lightning damage. As it lay on the ground, glaring balefully around at each team member in turn, it's face and form slowly began to change back into that of a now very tired and hurt looking Saki Konishi.

"No, not again," whispered Yukiko. "Yosuke-kun, be strong…"

"Hana-chan," called Saki plaintively. "Yosuke…"

"It's not real, dude," said Kanji. "I mean, hey, you just saw what that thing turned into. We all saw it. It's messing with your head. Don't let it get to you!"

"Please, Yosuke," murmured Saki, reaching out to him again.

Yu and Chie got ready to rush to Yosuke's aid, but there was no need. Frowning at Saki's shadow, Yosuke shook his head, looking pained. He took a step back away from her, and she stopped in her tracks, inclining her head to one-side in an alarmingly bird-like gesture.

"I guess it's true what they say, huh?" he mumbled, smiling uncertainly into Saki's questioning eyes. "Some people never leave you, even after they're…well, you know. After they're gone. Man, even after ten years, I still…I still just kind of want to see her. Pretty weird, I guess."

"No, it's not," said Yu, placing a hand on Yosuke's shoulder.

"You'll probably always think about her," agreed Yukiko. "That's what love really is. The people we love will always be a part of us."

"But, at the same time," added insisted Rise, "Yosuke, you have to let her go. Just…just think about the good times that you two had together, okay? Remember her that way. But, the rest of it…you've gotta let that go. You can't be happy any other way!"

"And you deserve to be happy," agreed Yu.

Chie nodded. "We all do."

There was a brief moment of silence while Yosuke bit his lip and swallowed against the emotion that he was fighting against.

"Yeah," he muttered eventually, sighing heavily. "Yeah…I guess you're right. I guess maybe it's time for me to move on. I mean, it's not like there's nothing here for me, right? I've got…I've got everything. I've got all the friends a guy could want, I've got a job to do…I guess it really is time to let go. There's nothing left for me in the past. It's all here, now, in the present. I don't want to miss out on that…not for anything. Not even for her."

As soon as he'd finished speaking the words, Saki's face cleared. She no longer looked hurt or confused, but instead smiled hesitantly at Yosuke, nodding quietly once before vanishing in a shimmering shower of light.

"Bye, I guess, senpai," mumbled Yosuke.

In the back of Yu's mind, in a voice that he wasn't quite sure that all the others could hear, someone spoke to him, and not for the first time. It was a voice that he recognized, an internal voice that came from his soul, and from a part of his past that he'd almost lost touch with even after countless daydreams and nightmares since the murders ten years previous.

_The strength of heart required to let go of the past has been made manifest, _breathed the voice.

Suddenly, Yosuke's persona looked up into the sky. As the rest of the team watched the look on Takehaya Susano-o's unreadable face, the persona nodded once, and then erupted into a glow of light very similar to the one recently emitted by the dying shadow of Saki.

_Yosuke has faced and forgiven the past, _continued the voice. _He has obtained the façade used to face the unforseeable future…the persona Visravana._

As the light began to fade, Yosuke's persona was again visible, although its form had drastically changed. It was now a tall, dark-skinned man, wearing a full-body suit of dull and battered armor made of gold. On his head was half of a strangely-shaped gold grown, and in one hand was clutched a scepter that held the point of a spear on the lower end. Both crown and spear were encrusted with jewels, although the jewels were also tarnished and faded, as though they'd been worn for a long time, or perhaps traded out for what had once been shinier and more valuable gems.

"Wow!" said Chie, gazing up at the persona. "Yosuke, you-!"

"Yeah," mumbled Yosuke, smiling to himself. "A new power, huh? Well, I guess that makes sense…a new power to combat a new menace. It's a new model…sort of like the TV we came in through. It feels…right, somehow. Like it's supposed to be this way."

The persona disappeared back into Yosuke's soul, and he stood a bit taller, looking around at the surprised and amazed faces of his friends.

"Thanks, guys," he told them. "I…I think maybe I feel better now than I have in a really long time. Looks like no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't do it alone. I'm glad we're all together again. I…think I need you to help me face whatever the hell is coming next."

"Like could ever get rid of us," announced Chie, as the group began heading out of the creepy room, and back into the main streets and byways of the TV world.

"Yeah!" Teddie. "I'll always be there for you!"

Yosuke gave Teddie a long look, and then sighed. "Yup," he agreed, wrapping one arm companionable around Teddie's shoulders. "No running off this time, okay? I'm holding you to that."

**Chapter 15: Chapter Thirteen: Glory Days**

**Author's Note: **So, I would like some more reviews. Obviously. And of course, you would probably like some more reviews for your stories as well! Therefore, from now on, I think I'm gonna play a new game.

Every time I update this story, I will include (in the author's note) a plug or reference to a story written by one of my reviewers. If you leave a review on my story, you may see your story highlighted in my author's notes! I'll plug a different one of your stories with every update, so you may have to wait a few chapters before you see your story in my notes, but I promise to stay on top of it and to pay close attention to everyone.

Is this shameless and selfish? Well, yes, admittedly it is. It's also, however, a great way for us to get a chance to read each other's stories, to maybe make some new friends and to find some great new reading material amongst the readers and reviewers of this story! I think it's a great idea. Let's try it out and see how it goes, okay?

I'll go ahead and start us off with a really good recommendation. One of my favorite writers, **Gin Nanashi, **has reviewed every chapter of this story so far! That makes my heart sing, because she's an insanely talented author in her own right. I think my favorite story of hers is called **Please Haunt Me, **and is a beautifully tragic horror/romance one-shot about everyone's favorite protagonists, Minako and Minato. You should go look it up, you won't be disappointed! She's brilliant!

And now, on to the chapter. I can't wait to read more of everyone's stuff!

**Chapter Thirteen: Glory Days**

Nanako was a little surprised when her cousin, his wife, and most of their friends all came traipsing into the Dojima residence around dinner time. Dad had wandered off somewhere, presumably to his own room, and Nanako was alone in the kitchen, wrestling with the question of what to make for dinner.

"Welcome home, Big Bro," she told Yu, smiling and accepting a hug from an enthusiastic Teddie. "Welcome, everyone!"

"Sorry, Nanako," said Yu, glancing around at his friends. "I probably should have called and asked before I told everyone it was okay for them to come over…"

"You didn't exactly say it was okay," Yosuke reminded him. "Actually, you pretty much just invited me. Everyone else just kind of decided to crash."

Teddie gave Nanako a mournful look. "I just felt so left out! Why does Yosuke have that I don't?"

Nanako laughed. "No," she insisted, shaking her head quickly. "It's fine, really! It will be nice to have so many friends here for dinner! Um…" She thought hard, frantically trying to come up with some way to feed everyone in the house with only the meager groceries she'd picked up the day before. "I'm just not sure we have enough food…"

Yukiko and Chie both held up Junes bags. "We can help!" insisted Chie, grinning. "After all, since I am going to be living here for a while, I figure I should pitch in! Right, Yu?"

Yu and Yosuke exchanged a disturbed look. "Well, actually," murmured Yu.

"No," interrupted Yosuke, shaking his head emphatically. "I mean, unless you want to be a widow really fast. Otherwise, no."

"Don't worry," chimed in Rise. "Naoto and I'll help with dinner, too! We can even run back over to the store for some more groceries if you want, Nanako-chan. Actually, Teddie and Yosuke should do it. They can probably still get a discount."

"Wait, wha-?" began Yosuke.

Nanako started to laugh. It was such a good feeling, listening to everyone arguing and bantering between themselves. The house felt like a home again, and not just like a place that she had to come back to at the end of the day after school was over and there was nowhere else to go. Usually, the atmosphere at the Dojima house felt so dreary and dead. Today, it was alive.

"Thank you," said Nanako, giving Yosuke a wink. "I think if we all work together, we can make something really delicious!"

Yosuke breathed a short sigh of relief. "That means you're in charge, right, Nanako-chan? You're helping, too. As long as you're involved in this, it probably can't go that badly…"

With that finally decided, Nanako took Rise, Yukiko, and Chie into the kitchen to start looking through the ingredients they'd bought.

It was only while she listened to them talking about what they could possibly concoct out of a bag of hamburger meat, eggs, chocolate frosting and apparently onions that Nanako realized how tired everyone looked. Even if they were laughing and joking together, they all looked as though they'd spent the morning doing slave labor or running around in the hot sun. Yosuke, particularly, looked exhausted, and even his smile was a little bit lopsided. Yu's eyes kept wandering around the room, distant and restless, like there was something else on his mind.

"Where have you guys been all day?" asked Nanako. "It's the weekend…aren't you taking a break? Why do you look so tired?"

"Wha-what are you talking about?" stammered Chie. "I feel great! I just, um, get really nervous when I'm about to cook something…because I want to make sure it's really tasty!"

"In that case," muttered Yosuke," you should probably stay out of the kitchen. If you want to make it taste good, I mean. That might be the best way."

"Knock it off, Yosuke," said Yu. "Cooking isn't easy."

"Yeah?" Yosuke shrugged. "Well, I guess even if Chie will never make a great housewife, at least you will. So, your marriage may not be a total loss."

Yu was just opening his mouth to respond to that, and Chie appeared to be getting ready to throw a carton of eggs at Yosuke's face when Kanji interrupted them.

"Uh, guys," he asked, "anyone seen Naoto?"

Rise frowned. "Yeah, wasn't' she supposed to be helping us with dinner? Jeez, she's not usually the kind of person who runs off and leaves us with all the work!"

**Meanwhile, around the back of the Dojima residence…**

Ryotaro Dojima was having a smoke.

He felt a little bit guilty about it. Nanako hated it when he smoked in the house, and he'd meant it when he'd assured her that he'd try to quit, or at least to cut down after Yu and his wife moved back in to the upstairs room. It seemed like as good a reason as any to stop smoking, since it would mean that he'd have to watch his habits in a house that was now a little fuller up of family than it had been before. Still, every now and then he found himself sneaking out with a cigarette, trying to stay out of Nanako's way. It wasn't that she'd chide him, or shout at him. She probably wouldn't say anything at all. Instead, she'd just give him that pouty little disappointed look that he'd been terrified of and a sucker for ever since she'd reached the tender age of six years old. That look was a killer. It got him every time. Better to just keep his little smoke breaks to himself.

Suddenly, Dojima heard footsteps coming around the side of the house. "Damn," he muttered. Frantically, he fumbled with the cigarette, then dropped it and stepped on it, crushing it underfoot.

"Dojima-san," murmured a voice. Surprised, Dojima glanced up and found himself staring not into Nanako's accusing eyes, but rather at Naoto Shirogane, who had one eyebrow raised at the place where Dojima had just trodden the cigarette into the ground.

"Oh, uh, sorry," muttered Dojima. "I thought you were my daughter…she doesn't like it when I smoke."

"She's right to be worried," agreed Naoto quietly. "Smoking, as you are no doubt aware, has a tremendously detrimental effect on your lungs. A man your age should be more wary of his health."

Dojima scowled. "A man my age," he mumbled.

Naoto winced, very slightly. "Forgive me, sir," she said. "I meant no offense. I only meant that-!"

"Its fine," insisted Dojima, shaking his head. "Forget it." He sighed. "You're not wrong, anyway. What are you doing here? You come to see Yu and Chie?"

Naoto gave him an apologetic half-smile. "I fear," she informed him, "that my friends, your nephew and niece included, are in the process of tearing apart your kitchen. There was some discussion of making dinner, although whether or not it will be at all edible remains to be seen."

"Oh," muttered Dojima. "Great. Well, if all else fails, I guess we can order a pizza."

Naoto nodded. "That may be the wisest course, yes." Then they stood together in silence for a few moments, while Naoto fidgeted uncomfortably with her hat, apparently at a loss for the next leg of the conversation.

"I'm sorry to hear that you'll be leaving the police force," she hazarded after a moment.

Dojima felt his shoulders slump. "Oh," he mumbled. "So, you heard about that."

"I, ah…" Naoto's face went slightly pink. "I'm sorry, was it…not intended to be public knowledge? Sometimes, in the course of my work, I…I hear things, that is. After all, you are something of a legendary figure in the mythos of the crime and criminal world. It's only to be expected that your movements would be talked of."

Dojima raised an eyebrow. "Legendary? Come on, I wasn't that bad…"

"Oh, no," replied Naoto. "I never meant…" she looked slightly panicked. Dojima started to laugh.

"I'm kidding," he told her, clapping her on the shoulder and watching her stagger back slightly under the weight of the gesture. "You don't have to freak out like that. I don't bite."

That got another smile out of Naoto. "With all due respect, sir," she told him, "I remember very well what you were like when I first met you, during our brief and somewhat fruitless collaboration over the Inaba murder case. Quite frankly, you terrified me. You may indeed lack a bite, but your bark is more than sufficient for your purposes. Your reputation does you credit, but there is a reason that I have heard you referred to in certain circles as "The Bulldog."

Dojima was surprised. "Wait…really? People call me that?" He frowned. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Then, he shook his head. "Anyway, I'm just an old dog now, I guess."

"A man of experience," corrected Naoto gently. "Valuable experience, if I may be so bold."

Dojima grinned at her. "You know what, Shirogane? You're all right. A little stiff, but…all right." He nodded.

"Thank you, sir." Naoto looked a little bit embarrassed. Dojima liked that. It wasn't easy to fluster the famous Detective Prince, who as far as he knew was still one of the big-time celebrities of the crime-solving world.

"In any case," managed Naoto, after an awkward pause, "whether the dinner is edible or not, I think we'd better go in and at least supervise the carnage. That way, there is a possibility that we may still salvage the yet-undamaged parts of your home."

"Sounds good to me," agreed Dojima. "Can't be that bad. Nothing'll ever compare to the time a couple of years ago that half the rookies decided to get together and to throw me a drunken birthday today in my own living room. Talk about destruction…"

They passed back into the house together, Naoto listening attentively while Dojima regaled her with tales of his days on the force. The cigarette remained forgotten, half-driven into the dirt.

**Chapter 16: Chapter Fourteen: Control**

**Author's Note: **Thanks for reading and reviewing, everyone! I had a lot of fun looking over everyone's stories, and I'm looking forward to reading even more of your wonderful work in the future!

Today, I have to recommend **Raison D'Etre**, by **Nowherefast**, This is another Minato and Hamuko story, told from both of their perspectives. It's not finished yet, so I can't/won't give away too much of the plot, but I've really been enjoying reading it so far. Let me know what you think, and be sure to drop the author a review or two as well!

Okay now on to another chapter…this one's an Adachi chapter, which are always much harder for me to write, in comparison to the investigation team stuff. Luckily, next chapter we go back to the easier characters, so all is not lost. I hope you enjoy!

**Chapter Fourteen: Control**

Margaret, obviously growing annoyed with Adachi's unwillingness to fight, led him back out of Magatsu Inaba and into the room that contained the creepy pictures, and the evidence of Mayumi Yamano's terror-stricken final moments. It sent little shudders down Adachi's spine as he stared around the emotional carnage, the torn posters and the obvious rage that Yamano had felt as she'd torn her other half apart and left it to die here.

"What now?" asked Adachi dully, staring into the faceless hole in Misuzu Hiiragi's head. "What'd we come here for? You gonna call another shadow? Come on, can't we take a break? I'm bleeding all over the place, and yeah, it hurts like hell. Whaddaya say we call it a day and go back to that weird blue place? Seriously, it's not like I'm going anywhere. You can start torturing me again in the morning. How's that for a good deal?"

"My master has instructed me to discern the true nature of your powers," muttered Margaret. "We won't leave until I have achieved that goal."

Adachi frowned. "He makes you call him 'Master?' Whoa, that sucks. Guess we're both getting the short end of this one."

Margaret gave him a disdainful look. "I am not like you," she informed him. "I accept my place in life. I do not fight against the path that has been chosen for me. I am satisfied with my purpose."

"Purpose, huh?" asked Adachi. "What's that?"

"I am tasked with protecting and guiding those who have become guests of the Velvet Room," Margaret reminded him didactically, as though she were reading it out of an invisible textbook or reciting a line that she'd repeated so many times already, it had become imprinted on the inside of her mind. "I am the one who presides over power, and encourages those who have that power to hone and improve their skills for the sake of the greater good."

"The greater good? Good luck with that." Adachi shook his head. "To each their own, I guess. Me, I'm not the kind of guy who settles for calling anybody 'Master.' I don't want somebody else's purpose. Make s me nervous. Gotta make my own way in the world; otherwise it's not worth the effort."

Margaret raised an eyebrow at him. "Permit me to say," she murmured, "that you have been somewhat unsuccessful in your choice of direction thus far. This 'way' that you have made for yourself in the world…need I remind you that it was myself and my Master who recently freed you from the inescapable prison of your own making?"

Adachi thought about that for a moment. "Touché," he mumbled eventually. "But hey, wait, that's not really the point. What I'm trying to say is…"

He trailed off uncertainly as Margaret continued to stare at him expectantly.

"Tch." He sighed. "Forget it. I don't know what I'm trying to say."

"I have brought you here," intoned Margaret, "in order to allow you to face the fears and regrets that are holding you back from full use of your power. I have heard humans say before that facing the things they wish never to think about can open the door to a new understanding of themselves."

She sounded a bit uncertain about that, as though it was something she'd read in a psychiatrist's office magazine, or had seen on an infomercial had but never really tried. Perversely, Adachi laughed. It was weird and kind of satisfying to see Margaret out of her element, especially after the lecture she'd just given him on purpose, or whatever that had been about.

"This is where your first victim met her end," continued Margaret. "Here, in this room. You must learn to face this place, and come to terms with your remorse. Perhaps that will in turn release you from your guilt, and free your persona ability."

Adachi was genuinely surprised. He opened his mouth, closed it again, and then bit his lip, a little impressed by the magnitude of Margaret's misconceptions. "Wait, remorse?" he asked. "Is that what you think this is about? You think I'm feeling like shit because some cheating bitch got what was coming to her? Nah, that's…that's got nothing to do with this, that's not it at all. Jeez..how do I say this?"

Now, it was Margaret's turn to look surprised. Adachi took a deep breath. For some reason, he wanted her to know the truth. There would be some malicious satisfaction, he thought, in telling her the truth, in showing her who he really was. He wanted to smash the bizarrely heroic image that she seemed to be building up in her head of Tohru Adachi, the man who her "Master" had instructed her was going to save the world.

"I'm not sorry," he told her. "Not really. No, what I am is scared. I remember what it felt like when I got my persona. You've gotta know what that's like too, right? You've got a persona. You've got the same power."

"Mine," murmured Margaret, "is limited. I can use it only in instances of training, or when it is my duty to intervene on behalf of our guests."

Adachi nodded. "Yeah, right. Well, mine's not 'limited.' When I first found out that I could summon a crazy powerful monster, it was the most amazing thing. Like, I thought, 'hey Tohru, you can do anything! This is what you've been waiting for all your life, a chance to show everyone how much of a badass you can really be!' It was such a fucking rush, every time I threw someone into the TV, or called my persona, or did something nobody would have thought I could do. I was gonna show them, all of them what the world was really like and how much of it I could control. They were nothing compared to me. They were worthless, they couldn't do shit. I had all the power. It was a really nice change from the way it had been all my life, with everybody shouting at me and pushing me around, telling me I'd never be worth anything….yeah. It was great. No, honestly, I loved the hell out of it. I loved being in control."

He was watching Margaret's face, searching her features for any sign of disgust or horror. She just gazed back at him blankly, her eyes widening slightly. Adachi forged recklessly ahead with his story.

"But I wasn't in control," he muttered, shaking his head. " After I pushed that Yamano woman into the TV, I was just sitting at the station a few hours later when all of a sudden…it hit me. What the hell had just happened? What was I even doing? I mean, it had been me, the whole time, I'm the one that did it. Nobody forced me, but…it was like I couldn't hold back. I didn't have control of myself anymore. I wanted things, I wanted them so bad…and then I just did them. Just like that. There was nothing standing in between me and whatever the fuck I felt like at the time, and everything just started to spiral downhill from there. I wasn't in control anymore. I couldn't stop myself, I couldn't reign it in. There were so many feelings, so much rage…I stopped being able to sleep at night. I'd just lie there awake, trying not to think, trying not to hate, or to wonder what the hell was going to happen tomorrow, the next time somebody tripped me in the street or cut me off on my way to the station. I didn't want the power anymore, I just wanted it to stop, wanted to be in control again, in control of my damn self. Everything was so crazy, I…"

He shuddered, and then stopped, aware that he was rambling on. There was sweat pouring down the back of his neck as he remembered the desperation of having no idea what tomorrow was going to feel like, or what he'd make himself do. Suddenly, he didn't want to meet Margaret's gaze anymore. He dropped his eyes away from her.

"It was fucking terrifying," he muttered. "The way it felt, like there was a part of me trying to tear the other part of me right out. In the end, the only thing I could do was let them lock me up and watch while some dumbass kids cleaned up the mess I watched myself make. It was safer there, safer where I couldn't do anything. I was safe there…from me."

He let out a long breath, then straightened his shoulders, trying to regain something like composure. "You get it now, right? I'm not your guy. I'm never going back to the way that shit felt. Say whatever you want, it's not gonna make a difference."

For a long moment, Margaret was silent.

"So," she said quietly. "You're a coward."

Adachi laughed. "Yeah," he agreed. "Sure, if that's how you want to put it. Anyway, I'm not your hero. Hell, I'm not even the hardened criminal mastermind everybody thought I was. I'm not 's gotta suck for you, I guess."

There was a cold, angry lump shuddering somewhere in Adachi's stomach. He swallowed hard against it, shook his head, and then turned his back to Margaret and started to walk away, back towards where he hoped the Velvet Room was. He didn't hear her following him.

**Chapter 17: Chapter Fifteen: The Midnight Channel**

**Author's Note: **Thought I'd put up one more update before it's time for bed. Tomorrow I have to go in to sign paperwork for my new teaching job, and then it's Dag's birthday, so I'm not sure if I'll have a chance to update at all.

With this chapter, I'd like to recommend a touching and beautiful new piece by **Palladion.x** called **Happy Memories.** It's about Nanako looking around and wondering how she can make the world a better and happier place, and I almost cried while I was reading it. It's a real heart-warmer!

Please be sure to leave reviews on **Palladion.x**'s story as well! I hope you're having as much fun with these recommendations as I am.

And now, on to the chapter!

**Chapter Fifteen: The Midnight Channel**

Nanako was slightly ashamed to admit this to herself, but even she was surprised by how remarkably edible dinner turned out to be. All the fuss that Yosuke had been making about his friends' lack of cooking skill had gotten Nanako thinking about the many times over the years that she'd been subjected to different cooking experiments and competitions at Rise, Yukiko, and Chie's request. Honestly, she'd never minded much. Even if the food was noxious and tended to make her lose her appetite for days, she'd always enjoyed being asked to participate, especially when the others were trying to shard. It made her feel like one of the group, and she always managed to find at least one thing about each dish that she could honestly pick out and compliment. That tended to make the older girls smile, and Nanako liked that. When she made them smile, she knew that she meant something to them, and that meant more to her than all the high-quality dishes in the whole world ever could.

Dinner tonight, however, had been genuinely delicious. As Nanako finished off the last bite that remained on her plate, she looked up to find Yukiko watching her hopefully.

"Did you enjoy it, Nanako-chan?" asked Yukiko, giving her a hesitant little smile.

Nanako nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, thank you! It was really good!"

Chie, Yukiko, and Rise all beamed at each other. "I'm so glad to hear that," murmured Yukiko, her whole face lighting up with pride. "It's a special recipe that we've been using at the Amagi Inn for years! I spent so much time in different cities, visiting different inns and hotels…but every time I went to a new place, I missed the Amagi Inn more and more. I've been learning some of the recipes and techniques bit by bit over the years, so I guess I have a more discerning palette now. The food here is much better than anything I tasted over there."

Chie was still greedily scarfing down the remains of her meal. "You can say that again!" she announced. "Man, Yukiko, we should do this more often! Now that you're Queen of the Kitchen, maybe you could teach me a few things!"

Yu suddenly looked alarmed, and Yosuke placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Let's…not get carried away, okay?" suggested Yosuke. "Still, I gotta hand it to you, Yukiko…this was awesome. I take back what I said before about this whole dinner thing being a mistake."

"Hey, I helped too!" Rise reminded them.

"Thank you, Rise-san! Thanks everybody for making dinner so much fun!" Nanako was about to say more, but stopped mid-sentence as she felt a yawn coming on. She stifled it with a hand, embarrassed, and glanced over at the clock.

"Wow," muttered Kanji. "Hey, it's getting kinda late. Where the hell'd the time go?"

"Well…" Chie frowned. "We did get kind of a late start on dinner, 'cause of our having to go back and forth to the store a few times, and all. Plus, I think we've been sitting here for a while…"

According to the wall clock, it was almost eleven o'clock at night.

"Well, that's about it for me," sighed Dad, pushing is chair back from the table and collecting his plate and silverware. "I've got work in the morning, for what that's worth. Thanks for dinner, everybody. Don't stay up all night, okay? Nanako, that goes for you too. You've got school in the morning."

Nanako reached out and took his plate from him, shaking her head. "It's okay, Dad," she told him. "I'll clean up."

"Yes," agreed Naoto. "We'll all help, of course. Pleasant dreams, Dojima-san. Thank you for your hospitality."

After Dad had gone off to bed, Nanako helped Teddie, Kanji, and Naoto clear the table. Yu and Chie began moving things out of their car and into the upstairs bedroom, while Yukiko and Rise, having already done the hard work of making dinner, got to relax in front of the television for a bit. Rain was beating against the windows outside, and, as Nanako listened, it seemed to be getting harder and harder. She bit her lip, trying to remember if she'd brought the laundry inside or not.

"Hey, guys," announced Kanji, disappearing into the kitchen with a huge stack of dirty plates. "Uh, it's raining."

There was a moment of extremely tense silence.

"Oh," murmured Yukiko. "No, wait…Kanji-kun, you don't think that it's going to happen again, do you?"

"This isn't really the time-!" began Yu, with a warning note in his voice.

"Look, I don't think nothing," Kanji insisted. "I'm just saying, it'd probably be a good idea for us to check it out, that's all. What with everything that happened today, I wouldn't exactly be surprised, you know? It'd kinda make sense."

Nanako frowned. "Um," she asked, "Sorry, but…what would make sense?"

Again, everyone else went alarmingly silent and still for a moment. "N-nothing, Nanako-chan!" stammered Chie, trying to balance one of her heavy suitcases on her shoulder. "We're just worried about, um, thunderstorms, that's all. Yeah, thunderstorms."

"Chie's terrified of them," added Yosuke. "She gets all freaked out whenever there's thunder and lightning, so we sort of try to stay on top of it."

The rest of the team began muttering amongst themselves, and Nanako, quite frankly, was not convinced. Still, it didn't look as though she was going to be getting any more out of them, and it wasn't as though whatever was going on was really any of her business, anyway.

"Oh, okay," she said. "Well, I watched the weather report on the news this morning, and I don't think it's going to thunder, so there's nothing to worry about! The forecaster Mariko Kusumi was talking about it, and she's never been wrong, as far as I know. So, don't worry, Chie-san."

Chie tried to smile at Nanako, but something about the smile wasn't quite right. Nanako pretended to ignore it.

"Marie-chan, huh?" mumbled Yosuke thoughtfully. "Yeah, maybe we should talk to her about this. That's not a bad idea, actually."

Yu grimaced. "It's…been a very long time since I've spoken to her," he admitted. The others all exchanged knowing looks, which again puzzled Nanako, leaving her frustrated and feeling out of the loop.

Again, Nanako yawned, and this time she didn't stop herself fast enough. The others noticed.

"You're tired," observed Naoto kindly. "Forgive us, Nanako-chan. We enter your house unannounced, and then ask you to clean up after us. Hardly appropriate behavior for unwanted guests."

"Yeah, don't worry about it, "agreed Yosuke quickly. "You shouldn't have to deal with our mess. We'll take care of the rest of it. You just get some sleep, okay?"

"Okay…" mumbled Nanako, frowning. "Well, if you really don't mind." Suddenly, Nanako really was tired, and a bit deflated. Watching the way they talked amongst themselves and exchanged those significant looks made her feel like she was missing out, and it wasn't a pleasant feeling. "Thanks, everyone. Um…goodnight, then."

She went downstairs and washed her face, put on her nightgown and brushed her teeth. By the time she was finished getting ready for bed, it was only three minutes until midnight, and she was really starting to feel the weight of her busy day bearing down on her. Just before bed, however, she hurried back up the stairs and headed for the kitchen, hoping to grab a glass of milk to take back with her to the bedroom.

When she got to the top of the stairs, Nanako noticed all of her dinner guests, including Yu and Chie sitting around in the living room, staring at the darkened TV screen. The TV was off, and yet for some reason they were all watching it intently, holding their breaths as though they were watching a particularly frightening film.

"Um," began Nanako, about to ask what was going on.

Before she had a chance to say anything, Rise spoke up. "Nothing's happening," complained Rise. "See? The Midnight Channel's totally gone. Whatever we're facing in the TV world, I don't think this has anything to do with it."

"Yes," agreed Yukiko, nodding slowly. "And now that I think about it, if the midnight channel was back, then wouldn't people be talking about it in town? It caused quite a stir ten years ago, and there are many people who still associate the strange things they saw on TV with the murders. I'm sure we'd have heard if anything like that was happening."

Quietly, Nanako turned around and retreated back to her own room. Closing the door behind her, she sat down on the bed, chewing her lip in thought.

"Midnight channel," she murmured, as unexpected memories came rushing back through her mind all at once. "Oh…"

**Chapter 18: Chapter Sixteen: I Promise**

**Author's Note: **Not to spoil the surprise, but I feel that I should mention here the fact that Nanako will NOT be a new wild card. We have enough people will the wild card ability floating around in this story already, we certainly do not need any more of them. Her purpose will be entirely different, but equally crucial. That's all I'll say about that, for the present.

I'm very excited about this afternoon's recommendation. **SuperNova23** is an fantastic author and a wonderful person. I've had the opportunity to do a few collaborative pieces with him, and that's been a real treat. I'd really like to recommend his story **Broken Hands**, which I think is beautifully written and very real. You'll be thinking about it long after you've finished reading it, trust me!

Okay, now go to work on the secret collaboration piece I was talking about the other day…gotta try to get it finished by tonight!

**Chapter Sixteen: I Promise**

It took a long time for Nanako to get to sleep. The words "Midnight Channel" kept running around in her head, accompanied by fuzzy, long-forgotten images of shadowy figures dancing on a darkened TV screen. Of course, Nanako hadn't been allowed to try the trick ten years ago, when the Midnight Channel had been a big deal. She'd been too young, and always in bed by midnight if Dad and Big Bro had anything to say about it. Still, she'd heard the rumors, and she'd listened to the whispers. She knew that Big Bro and his friends had talked a lot about the Midnight Channel.

Nanako never talked about the Midnight Channel. She didn't talk about being kidnapped, and she didn't talk about the murders. She knew how upset it still made her father to even think about the things that had happened back then. She knew that Yu would worry about her if he knew that she still had nightmares about the horrible shadow monster that Namatame had turned into when he'd brought her into the wonderful other world that felt like Heaven but turned out to be more like Hell. It had all been over ten years ago, and Nanako didn't want to upset the people trying to protect her from it all by surprising them with the fact that there was nothing they could do.

Therefore, with the best of intentions, she had always said nothing…but she wouldn't forget. As she tossed and turned in bed that night, desperate for sleep, she wished she'd never gone upstairs for that glass of milk.

Sometime in the middle of the night, Nanako must have fallen asleep. She knew that she must have managed it, because when she opened her eyes, she found herself in a dream world.

It was a strange, blue dream world with blue ceilings, and blue floors, blue chairs, blue furniture, and even a pair of people, dressed in blue, standing behind a desk and talking to one-another in hushed voices. There was a tall, beautiful woman with ash-blond hair, looking irritated and pacing back and forth as she spoke. Standing next to her, was a much smaller man, with a long nose and very large, wide eyes, watching her movements with interest, but apparently without concern.

"Allow me to say, Master," murmured the woman, "that I do not like it. Seldom before in the long history of this Velvet Room have we entertained so many guests at one time…it is an unnecessary risk. So many focal points of power in such a small place will no doubt prove hazardous both to our purposes, and to the people of this town. It has happened before…and now I fear it may happen again."

"Calm yourself, Margaret," intoned the man with the long nose. Something about the quality of his voice made Nanako's hair bristle. It was a soft voice, but not calming at all. Somehow, the voice seemed to e charged with an electric energy that eliminated any possibility of being "calm."

"You refer," continued the long-nosed man, "to the murders that took place in their world not so very long ago, do you not?" Margaret nodded unhappily. "In that case," continued the man, "Set your mind at rest. That calamity was provoked by the gods. What is our purpose, as guardians of this Velvet Room?"

Margaret frowned. "Our purpose," she responded, "is to protect and guide our guests through the use of their powers down a protected and triumphant path towards the future."

The man nodded. "Excellent," he told her. "And so, it is with that purpose in mind that we take this necessary action. We are to provide humanity with a chance, Margaret, a chance to succeed where the gods might have them fail. This is who we are, and it is why we have been brought here. Ours is not to question, but to act in accordance with that purpose. You understand, do you not?"

"Yes, Master," agreed Margaret, but she didn't sound too happy about it.

"Yes," muttered Igor thoughtfully. "Very good." Suddenly, he spun around and gazed straight at Nanako, who almost jumped out of her skin in surprise. "Welcome," he told her, smiling, "to the Velvet Room."

Margaret turned around as well, and looked starteld to see Nanako there. She flushed slightly, apparently uncomfortable. "Ah…welcome," she murmured. "Forgive me, I…ah…well, if you'll excuse me."

Margaret sat down hurriedly in a chair, and took a very large book out of seemingly nowhere. As Margaret buried her face in the book, Igor continued speaking.

"Please," he told Nanako, with the same gently electric tone in his voice. "Don't be alarmed. You are fast asleep in the real world. I have summoned you here within your dreams."

_I'm not frightened_, realized Nanako. _I should be, but I'm not. Something about this plays feels…safe._

"My name, "said the man, "is Igor. This is my assistant, Margaret."

"It's nice to meet you," replied Nanako politely. "My name is Nanako Dojima."

Margaret and Igor exchanged a look. Margaret hastily looked away, shaking her head and returning to her avid reading. Igor returned his attention to Nanako.

"You must be wondering why I've called you here tonight," he intoned. "It is very unusual for any residents of the Velvet Room, such as myself to summon any human who does not possess the power of the Wild Card. My Master and I now turn to you for assistance in a matter of the greatest importance."

Nanako frowned. "You need my help?" she asked. "What's important?"

Igor nodded. "I have spent quite some time searching through the memories and feelings of our guests, hoping to find a key that might unlock the source of one particular guest's power. You, Nanako Dojima, are that key."

"I'm sorry," said Nanako. "I don't know what that means."

Margaret dropped the book into her lap, and gazed at Nanako with a searching look in her eyes. Nanako squirmed a bit under her scrutiny, reminded suddenly of the way her father sometimes looked at her when he was trying to determine whether or not she'd just told him the truth and nothing but.

"Your cousin is in grave danger," said Margaret finally. "He has vowed the save the world from an oncoming storm of evils, but even he and his friends will be powerless to stop that evil alone. He will require the assistance of others, as powerful as himself, and in order to obtain that assistance, he will require your help as well. Do you understand?"

Nanako definitely did not understand. She had no idea what this strange woman was talking about. Still, the idea of her beloved Big Bro being in danger had made enough of an impression. Once upon a time, there had been horrible things happening in Nanako's world, and Yu had rushed in to save her from them. She hadn't understood them then, and didn't understand them now, but that didn't change the fact that they were true and real. Nanako didn't have to understand. "What can I do to help?" she asked. "I don't want him to get hurt. I don't…I won't let that happen."

"You must promise us," continued Margaret, "that you will do everything within your power to protect your cousin from harm."

"And," added Igor, "you must agree to abide by your decision. Once you have made your promise, there will be no going back."

_Dad always tells me that I'm not supposed to commit to anything until I've read all the fine print…that is, until I'm sure of exactly what it is I'm agreeing to. How can I make promises that I might not be able to keep?"_

"I can't," she told Igor. "I need to know more. What's going on? Why do you need me?"

"Promise," repeated Margaret. "We cannot proceed without our contract."

Nanako took a deep breath. She thought about Yu, standing by the side of her hospital bed, soothing her with his voice as she squeezed his hand and tried so hard just to keep her eyes open. She remembered the way he'd run through the fog shrouding that horribly, heavenly place to rescue her from harm all those years ago. She remembered eating watermelon with him, laughing with him outside of Junes, holding his while they walked to the store together, and drying the dishes that he'd just finished washing in the Dojima kitchen.

_It's okay, Big Bro, _she thought. _I'm not gonna let anything happen to you…I'm here._

Nanako bit her lip. "Okay," she told Igor and Margaret. "I promise. Now…what do I need to do?"

Margaret raised a hand, and Nanako gasped. There was the image of a familiar face floating at the forefront of her mind, just behind her eyes, and it was a face that she'd honestly never expected to see again. Although it looked much older, with features sunken in through time and pain, the face was clearly that of Tohru Adachi, the man behind the Inaba murder case, and her father's former partner.

"Adachi-san," san murmured. "But…why, I don't-!"

"Are you frightened?" asked Margaret, raising an eyebrow.

Nanako had to think about that for a moment. Then, she shook her head. "No," she said quietly. "No, I'm not scared. I remember."

For the first time since Nanako had entered the room, Margaret almost smiled. "Impressive," she whispered, under her breath.

Igor reached out to Nanako, and there was something glittering in the palm of his hand. She picked it up and discovered that it was a small, golden key.

"Take this," Igor instructed her, "and keep it close to you. When the time comes, you will use it to find us again."

"Okay," managed Nanako.. There didn't seem to be anything else to say.

"Very well, then," murmured Margaret. "Until we meet again, then…"

As Nanako opened her mouth to say goodbye, the world around her began to swim and grow blurry. She could feel her eyelids closing and suddenly everything was rushing away from her until she could feel the coolness of her pillow resting against the back of her head, and risked opening her eyes again. She was back, now, in her own room, with daylight shining in through the window. The clock on the bedside table was blinking urgently, reading "6:30 AM."

Nanako yawned. Then, still feeling the small key pressed into the palm of her hand, she frowned, and gazed at it for a moment uncertainly.

**Chapter 19: Chapter Seventeen: Leader**

**Author's Note: **Dag's out of town doing a convention somewhere in…uh, Tennessee, maybe? I got home early from work, and there's no rehearsal till tomorrow, so I get to spend the whole evening relaxing in my bed, with my coffee, writing and catching up on my to-do lists and my lines. Huzzah! I'll probably update a couple of times this evening, subsequently, assuming I don't get a headache.

For this afternoon's update, I'd like to actually deviate from the world of Persona, for a moment, and recommend **Sticks and Stones** by **EMD23.** It's a Fire Emblem: Awakening story about a pairing that I absolutely adore, and I think you'll really enjoy reading it. I normally only read Persona stories, honestly, but…this one's a lot of fun. Don't take my word for it, go and see!

**Chapter Seventeen: Leader**

**October 7, 2022**

The next morning, Yu slept a bit later than he'd planned. It had been a long time since he'd kept himself up past midnight on a regular basis, and his body was no longer used to the late hours. Even after observing the night before that the Midnight Channel had not resurfaced, he and his friends had stayed up into the early hours of the morning, plotting, planning, and talking amongst themselves, trying to sort out some kind of theory as to what was happening in the once peaceful TV World.

"Oh, crap," muttered Chie, rolling away from him on the bed, and glancing over at the clock on the wall. "It's seriously late…we promised the others we'd be at Junes half an hour ago! Come on, let's hurry!"

After rushing through their morning tasks, Yu and Chie both slammed out the door and pounded down the familiar street towards the department store. When they got there, they found the most of the investigation team in similar states of confusion, yawning and rubbing at their eyes, and staring blearily at each other through and around a lack of sufficient sleep.

"Morning, senpai," muttered Kanji, jerking his head in Yu's direction. "Guess I'm not the only one who couldn't get out of bed this morning, huh? Maybe that makes okay, sorta."

Yosuke looked annoyed. "That doesn't make it okay at all!" he grumbled, slamming his fist down on the table for emphasis, "Jeez, what kind of superheroes are late to the crime scene because they slept through their alarms?"

"Our kind, apparently," murmured Naoto, who for once just as bedraggled as any of the others. "Yosuke-senpai, it would be unreasonable to expect for any of us to be at peak form after so long an absence from the world of shadow detection. And please…there is no need to shout. I have a terrible headache."

Teddie gave Naoto a thoughtful frown. "Wow, Nao-chan," he remarked. "You can hold your alcohol pretty well, but not sleeping gives you a headache?"

Naoto looked a bit sheepish. "Eight hours of rest best becomes the adult body. It is a well-established scientific fact," she muttered, and left it at that.

Rise, apparently, was the only one who didn't seem to be at all bothered by the early wake-up call. She was as bright and peppy as ever, and gave Yu a dazzling smile as he sat down across from her at the table.

"You look pretty upbeat this morning," observed Chie, with just a hint of resentment.

Rise beamed at her." Oh, yeah, I guess so. I mean, I do really late performances all the time, and then I have to get up super early to go back on tour, so I guess I'm used to this sort of thing."

"Oh yeah…" Yosuke nodded. "Well, that makes sense. Anyway." Raising his voice slightly, he looked around pointedly at each member of the team, until each of them lapsed into vaguely guilty silence. "I guess you could say that today marks the beginning of the second case handled by the Inaba Murder Investigation Team. So, the reason we're all here is that-!"

"Um," interrupted Yukiko, frowning, "I don't think that makes sense…after all, we can't be a "murder investigation team" since, as far as we know, this case doesn't involve any murders…yet."

"Yeah," agreed Chie, "and I hope it stays that way!" Yukiko nodded emphatically.

"Okay, fine," sighed Yosuke. "Then, we can just be the Investigation Team. The point is, last night we all came up with some ideas as to how we should go about investigating this case, right? So, now it's up to our fearless leader to decide what we're all going to do first."

Yosuke gave Yu an expectant look. Yu bit his lip. "Why is it up to me?" he asked.

"Duh," muttered Yosuke. "I just said you were always the leader, right? Maybe some things have changed, but not everything has to. Honestly, partner, I'd feel a whole lot better if you took control of this one."

"That goes double for me!" agreed Chie enthusiastically. One by one, each member of the team added his or her voice to the cause. Eventually, Yu gave up.

"All right," he murmured reluctantly. "Yes, if that's what you want. In that case, um…" he thought for a moment, running through a list in his mind of all of the ideas that had been proposed in front of the TV the night before. "Chie, you have to go into work today, right?"

Chie glanced down at her watch, and winced. "Oops, like right now," she said. "Sorry, guys…"

Yu nodded. "It's okay. In that case, Naoto, why don't you go in with Chie. You can say that you came back to visit old friends from the police department, or something like that. What I really want both of you to do is to spend the day asking around the station, to see if you can figure out what sort of effect this new iteration of the TV world is having in our world. See if there's been a rise in crime, or anything suspicious going on, okay?"

Naoto looked unconvinced. "Ah…I confess, I do not exactly remember the names of any of the individuals that I met during my investigation with the Inaba police department," she informed Yu. "I…am not terribly good with names or faces, when the individuals in question are not directly related to a case in which I am involved."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Chie assured her, shrugging. "We'll figure something out. After all, there are bunch of new rookies there, like me! I bet they'll be thrilled to get a chance to meet the famous Detective Prince, right? So you don't even really need an excuse."

"What about me, senpai?" asked Kanji, looking ever so slightly disappointed that Naoto had been assigned to someone else's team.

"Kanji," said Yu, "will be going with Rise and Teddie to check out the TV World. I want you to see how many of the old places that our shadows created are still standing. Actually, Yukiko, you go with them, if that's okay. It's probably best to have four people in that group, just in case you do encounter any shadows. If there's any real trouble, though, like the thing that Yosuke ran into the other day, don't mess around with it. Get out of there, and come straight back. I don't want you taking on any of the big stuff without backup. Got it?"

"Got it!' agreed Rise brightly, squeezing Kanji's arm. "I'll be counting on you, Kanji-kun!"

"Yes," agreed Yukiko, smiling at Kanji. "You'll have to be our shield if anything goes wrong."

"What?" Kanji looked alarmed. "What do you mean, shield? It's not like you can't fight for your damn self, Yukiko-senpai…"

Yu took a deep breath. _Now,_ he thought, _comes the hard part. _Yosuke was still watching him patiently, but there was a mischievous looks spreading slowly across Yosuke's face, and Yu had a feeling he knew all too well what his best friend was thinking.

"So," asked Yosuke. "Where does that leave us, partner?"

"We," sighed Yu, "are going to find Mariko Kusumi, local celebrity forecaster. She…may know something that can help. It's worth looking into, anyway." He did not tell Yosuke just how much he was dreading an interview with Marie after ten years of almost no contact at all. Yosuke, however, must have seen the trepidation on Yu's face, because he laughed and gave him a reassuring clap on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, partner," Yosuke assured Yu. "I've got your back. After all, we've faced all sorts of crazy stuff over the years…I mean, how bad could Marie-chan really be?"

_Hell hath no fury, _thought Yu, _like a woman scorned…and this one's part of a goddess. Could be bad. Could be really bad. _He decided, however, to keep that sentiment to himself.

**Chapter 20: Chapter Eighteen: Remorse**

**Author's Note: **These two chapters sort of went together chronologically, so I wrote them at the same time.

…What? No, I do not have too much time on my hands, what are you…? Hey, I start two new jobs at the same time on August 26…then I won't be updating so frequently.

No, I mean it! Honest! Why are you giving me that dubious look, **Meia42?**

Aaaanyway, from here on out, some knowledge of the Adachi social link in Golden will help. I mentioned it before, but it's available on Youtube, if you want a quick refresher.

**Chapter Eighteen: Remorse**

Nanako started off for school that morning, punctual as always, determined to be at least a few minutes early for class. She washed her face, brushed her teeth, and pulled back her hair into long pigtails, tying each off with the one red ribbon that Dad always said made her look so sweet. Today, she wanted to feel more like a child, and less like a very confused half-woman, puzzled about too many things and desperate for a hug from anyone who had a spare.

On a whim, she passed through the shopping district on the way to school, and stopped to buy breakfast at one of the street vendors, thinking the whole time about the dream she'd had the night before. She'd been trying ever since she woke up to convince herself that it really had been a dream, and that the slight weight of the golden key in her skirt pocket was a coincidence.

_Maybe I found the key somewhere, and then forgot about it, _she told herself. _But, maybe I sort of remembered, and then I had a dream about the key…because that's the way that dreams work, isn't it? People always dream about things that they didn't realize they remembered, or didn't know they were thinking about._

She certainly had been thinking a great deal about Yu and Chie, about all of their friends and about the mysterious world that she'd entered into through the TV when she was only seven years old. She'd been thinking about that almost nonstop since she'd overheard her cousin's conversation that night, and so it made sense that she'd have a nightmare about it.

_But, _she reasoned, _I wasn't thinking about any place called 'The Velvet Room.' I couldn't have been. I've never heard of it before…unless it was in a book or in a movie that I can't remember. Still, I'm pretty sure I've never heard of it before. Maybe it came from my imagination? Some dreams are like that, but this one felt so real. The people spoke like real people would. They acted like real people. I'm not sure I have a good enough imagination to come up with all of that by myself…_

Normally, it wouldn't have mattered. There were other things worth worrying about in Nanako's life, such as the set of tricky exams that were coming up, or the fact that she still desperately needed to borrow math notes from someone else, and preferably from someone who was an arithmetical genius, unlike Nanako herself. The reason this particular dream mattered so very much was that Igor and Margaret had both said that Yu was in danger, and that was not something that it was worth leaving to fate or circumstance. That was what Nanako was so worried about it, and it was that worry that almost kept her from noticing the strange, blue door that was suddenly and inexplicably glowing against the wall between the bookstore and the newly-refurbished "Daidara and Sons Art Emporium."

When she suddenly did notice the door, out of the corner of her eye, Nanako was so surprised that she stumbled and stubbed her toe against her curb. She stood there for a moment, bending down to massage the life back into her aching toe and staring, wide-eyed at the door, half expecting it to disappear or swim away in a blue haze the same way the room had in her dream. The door, however, remained solid and stationary. Nanako took a deep breath.

"Big Bro," she murmured. "I won't let you down." Then she walked over to the door, reached into her pocket, and inserted the Velvet Room key into the lock.

"Ah," murmured Igor, as soon as Nanako had shut the door carefully behind her. "Welcome to the Velvet Room."

"Your enthusiasm does you credit," added Margaret, nodding approvingly in Nanako's direction. "We had not expected you yet for several days."

"Um." Nanako wasn't quite sure what to say. Margaret and Igor were both watching her intently, just as they had in her dream the night before, and suddenly Nanako felt much smaller and much less certain. There was something different about their gaze in the real world, although she couldn't quite put her finger on exactly what it was. Perhaps in her dream, she'd felt like she was in control. Now that the bubble had burst and the dream was reality, things were…just different, somehow.

"Well," she mumbled, "I'm here, now. Um…was it true, what you told me last night? About Big Bro and my friends being in trouble?"

"Yes." Margaret nodded once. "I am permitted to speak only the truth to guests of the Velvet Room." Then, suddenly, her face softened ever so slightly, and for a moment, Margaret looked more human than she had before. "In any case," she said quietly, "you would never have promised, had you not been certain in your own mind that the danger I spoke of was real."

"That's true," agreed Nanako thoughtfully. "Do you…know him? Do you know my cousin?"

That question seemed to catch Margaret off her guard for a moment. She opened her mouth in surprise, then quickly shut it again and glanced at Igor out of the corner of her eye. "Yes," she said finally. "We have met many times."

Gazing into Margaret's eyes, Nanako was suddenly sure that there was more to it than that. Nanako decided that she liked Margaret, despite the woman's relatively cold and forbidding exterior. There was something poised and elegant about Margaret that Nanako would never be, and that she thus admired tremendously.

_And I think,_ decided Nanako, _that maybe she cares about Big Bro a lot. She wants to help him very much, and that makes us friends. Definitely._

"Are you ready, Nanako?" asked Igor.

Nanako shook her head. "I'm very sorry," she insisted, "but I'm still not sure what you want me to do."

Margaret let out a long-suffering sigh. "In complete honesty," she murmured, "neither are we. Come, this way."

With that, Margaret turned and opened another door, which Nanako hadn't noticed before. The door led out into a strangely familiar landscape, warped and alien-looking in both its colors and in its contours.

"I must insist that you remain close to me at all times," Margaret instructed Nanako over her shoulder. "This is a dangerous place, and you are unequipped for battle."

Nanako's eyes widened. "Battle?" she asked. "What…?"

Margaret kept going, and Nanako hurried to follow as closely behind her as she could.

They walked for a long ways, through streets and down corridors full of shadowy shapes that Margaret appeared to be steering as far clear of as possible. The atmosphere was making Nanako nervous, but she did her best to swallow her discomfort and to keep her eyes firmly on Margaret's back, willing herself not to be frightened. It wasn't too long before they came to a horrible place, a place full of posters with the faces cut out. The walls were covered in spatters of red liquid that Nanako sincerely hoped was paint and not blood. There was one chair in the room, as well, above which was hanging some kind of scarf or red ribbon.

"Oh," murmured Nanako, distracted temporarily from the horrible décor by the sight of the man in the chair.

Tohru Adachi was hunched over, resting both elbows, holding his head in one hand. He looked horrible, unexpectedly old and broken, so thin that his bones were showing and dressed in a torn pajama suit that looked very much like the ones Nanako saw so often draped over the prisoners that were occasionally showcased on the news. Once upon a time he had been a creature out of someone's nightmares, and if he'd been terrifying then, he was horrifying now. Nanako knew that she should be screaming…and yet she felt nothing…nothing, that is, except for an overwhelming sense of pity, and somehow disappointment at the same time.

"Adachi-san," announced Margaret, startling him out of whatever reverie he'd been lost in. "I have brought a guest to see you."

Adachi groaned. "What the hell is it now?" he asked, straightening himself up and casting a cursory, disinterested glance over Nanako. "What, is this another one of your games? You make some shadow look like a high school kid, to try and make me remember my victims, or whatever? Or am I supposed to be turned on? Gotta say one thing for you, you sure don't give up easy. When are you gonna get it through your head that I don't…"

His voice trailed off when he met Nanako's eyes, and all the color suddenly drained out of his face as his mouth fell open in shock.

"Holy crap," he whispered. "No way. Hey, this isn't fair…"

"Hello, Adachi-san," whispered Nanako, unsure of what else there was to say.

"N-Nanako-chan," stammered Adachi. "You, uh…you…grew up, I guess. Wow. Time…time sure flies, huh?" He gave her one of his nervous little smiles, which made him look at least a little tiny bit more like the man Nanako remembered. Then the smile dropped off his face, and he drummed his fingers uncomfortably against his thighs, pushing himself abruptly off of the chair and shooting a panicked look at the door through which Nanako had come in.

"No remorse, huh?" he muttered to himself, shaking his head. "Jeez…"

Margaret raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry?" she asked. "Did you-?"

Adachi let out a raspy, incredulous laugh that sounded strange and hollow echoing off the color-stained walls of the awful room. "Wow," he said, nodding once and gazing up at Margaret with a wild look in his eyes. "Okay, yeah. Yeah, you got me. I don't know how, but…you win, okay? Damn, she's just a kid. How the hell could you bring a kid in here? This place is dangerous, somebody could get hurt…" he laughed again, then bit his lip. "Just…just get her out of here. I'll do whatever the fuck you want, just take her back. I don't want to see her, got that? I don't…god."

"I'm not a kid," Nanako heard herself say. "I'm seventeen years old, Adachi-san."

"Yeah?" Adachi looked surprised. "Seventeen, wow…well, its no thanks to me, you know what I'm saying? Just go, okay? Come on. Please?" He was almost pleading with Margaret now, or maybe with Nanako herself. It made Nanako feel a bit sick to her stomach.

Margaret, on the other hand, looked totally unperturbed. In fact, Nanako noticed, Margaret was slowly starting to smile.

"Ah," she murmured, nodding at Adachi, and then at Nanako. "Yes…I thought as much."

**Chapter 21: Chapter Nineteen: Heartbreaker**

**Author's Note: **Wow, what a day. Way too many rehearsals. Um. I'm going to write something, but if there are typos, I sincerely apologize. I'm a little tired. I promise, if there are major grammatical mistakes, I will check them over and correct them first thing tomorrow morning. Thanks for bearing with me!

Today, I'd like to recommend a story by **DemonRaily**, called **Contradictions**, a fascinating one-shot from the point of view of Izanami herself!

Oof, I have too many stories, gotta go work on **M-Path **now…ah, well, I'll sleep when I'm dead.

The next few chapters are going to jump in and out of scenes with different characters. We'll get to see scenes with each of the teams, and that'll be fun, I hope!

**Chapter Nineteen: Heartbreaker**

Yosuke and Yu headed for the TV station in Yu's car, the back seat of which was still full of unpacked luggage, as well as a huge pile of Chie's training equipment.

"Seriously?" asked Yosuke, glancing over his shoulder at the mess. "She made you drag all that stuff here? Where are you even gonna keep it? It's not like your house is really that big…uh, no offense."

"None taken." Yu shrugged. "I know what you mean, but there wasn't much else that we could do. Apparently it's all very expensive, and she wasn't willing to sell it, so…we couldn't just leave it behind."

Yosuke frowned in thought. "Yeah, I guess that make sense," he agreed. "And hey, it's really a good thing in the end, right? I mean, your wife wants to stay in shape so she keeps looking hot for you. That's a positive thing. I hear lots of women just let themselves go after they get married…"

"Some things never change," murmured Yu, grinning and shaking his head. "You're still the same Yosuke, even after all these years…always thinking that way about girls."

For some reason, Yosuke shifted a bit in his seat, looking uncomfortable. "Uh, actually," he muttered, "about that…there's kind of something I wanted to talk to you about. There hasn't really been any time over the last few days, what with your wedding and now this new case we're on…so, I haven't had a chance, but…" He grimaced. "Hey, you're still my partner, right?"

Yu raised an eyebrow. "Right," he agreed. "And?"

"And," mumbled Yosuke, "so, you'd be my, uh, wingman, if I needed you to. Right?"

That got Yu's full attention. "Wingman?" he asked, genuinely surprised. "You mean…"

"Yeah." Yosuke sighed. "There's…kinda this girl I want you to meet. Uh, not like that, I mean…I was hoping that maybe, now that you and Chie are back in town, we could all go out together sometime. Like a…double date kind of thing." He paused for a moment, apparently trying to figure out just exactly what he wanted to say. "It's like...after what happened in the TV world the other day, with…with Saki-senpai, or with her shadow, I've been thinking. You guys have been talking to me for years about moving on and getting over it, and I…guess I never took it too seriously. After seeing Saki, and having to really think about what it means to try and get over it all, I think maybe I have to start taking a more active role in this. It's time for me to get out there and try dating again, you know? Before it's too late!"

"Yeah," agreed Yu, nodding. "After all, it's not like you're getting any younger. You'll be twenty eight, soon, and they say it's pretty hard to get married after thirty."

Yosuke winced. "Ouch!" he mumbled. "Hey, anyway, who said anything about marriage? One step at a time, okay?"

Yu parked the car out front of the TV station, and he and Yosuke climbed out. Yu stood for a moment in the parking lot, racking his brains for any kind of reasonably suave entrance line that might do even a little bit to stave off the tide of rage that he was sure would descend upon him as soon as he and Marie locked eyes.

"It's now or never, man," said Yosuke. "What's would Kanji say, here? 'Sometimes, a man's just gotta take one for the team!'"

"Not helping," muttered Yu, as they walked in through the double doors.

There were a lot very busy people bustling around the station. No one seemed to have any time to talk to a pair of unwelcome guests, and it took almost an hour for Yu and Yosuke to find anyone who could direct them towards Mariko Kusumi. After getting brushed off by innumerable people, and wandering around in circles for far too long, they found themselves back at the building's entrance, frustrated and annoyed. Yu, however, was also at a least a little bit relieved.

_Well, no one can say I didn't try, _he thought. _If we can't find her, then we can't find her. She's a very busy woman, so…this was probably a bad idea, anyway._

Then, just as he was turning away and preparing to head back out to the parking lot, a piercingly disdainful female voice cut through the air like a jackknife.

"Oh my god," said Mariko Kusumi, the girl that Yu had once known as Marie. "No way, you're…is it really you?"

He turned around to see her walking towards him, her high heels clicking against the ground and her glasses balanced delicately on her nose. Although the form and figure was the same as it had been when they were ten years younger, Marie was clearly no longer the awkward, uncomfortable teenager who had been trying so desperately to find a place for herself in the human world. Now she was a powerful woman, a woman with clout in society and who knew that her place as a popular local celebrity was pretty much a head and shoulders above everyone else's. She walked with the kind of confidence and poise that came from years of experience, years that Yu only now fully realized that he'd completely missed out on.

"Hey, Marie-chan!" called Yosuke, instinctively stepping in between her and Yu as she closed the gap. "Wow, you look amazing! I mean, I've seen you on TV a thousand times, but there's nothing like the real thing. So, um…how've you been?"

Marie didn't even glance in his direction. "Whatever," she muttered, shoving him by the shoulder and walking straight past him until she was right in front of Yu. "Get out of the way, Yosuke. You." She leveled her gaze on Yu, planting both hands on her hips and staring him down with murder in her eyes. "You've got some nerve showing up here. You know I could have you thrown out by one of the guards? Or maybe two of the guards. We have, like, six of them. Maybe I'll have them all throw you out together, cause that'd make it hurt more!"

"It's nice to see you, Marie-chan," mumbled Yu miserably. There wasn't too much else he could really say.

"It's Mariko," she corrected him. "Oh, and as long as we're pretty much total strangers, you might as well call me Kusumi-san, you stupid jerk."

"Hey, c ome on!" Yosuke held up his hands in protest. "Doesn't that seem a little harsh? I mean, sure, maybe it's been a few years, but people lose touch sometimes! These things happen. Maybe we can make up for it, now. After all, we did come to find you."

Marie gave Yosuke a withering look. He took an involuntary step back. "Make up for it?" she asked. "Make up for it? Really?" Turning back to Yu, she took a deep breath. "You humiliated me in front of, like, pretty much the entire world. All of Inaba, anyway. Were you even watching? Did you even listen to what I said to you?"

Yu was relatively certain that Marie was referring to the time that she'd announced her love for him on the air. It wasn't that had he hadn't been flattered, or even that he didn't find her attractive. It was just that he'd already been in a relationship with Chie, whom he'd genuinely cared about, and that had closed a lot of doors that some other girls would have liked him to have left open.

"I'm sorry," he told her, as sincerely as he could. "There's…not too much else I can say to you, Marie. I should have been more respectful of your feelings."

Marie turned away from him, shaking her head and staring balefully at the floor. "Stupidheartbreakingstuckupjerk," she mumbled incoherently. "You could have at least called."

They stood there in awkward silence for a moment, until Yosuke finally spoke up.

"Um, guys?" he asked. "What do you say we go and get some food, or something? It's just that, uh, everyone's sort of staring at us. And when I say everyone.."

Yu turned around to see that most of the TV station employees, perhaps summoned by the raised volume of Marie's voice, were now standing around gawking at their little scene. He felt himself flush, and saw that Marie's cheeks were turning pink as well.

"Fine," she mumbled, grabbing Yu by the arm and hauling him out towards the parking lot. Yosuke had to hurry to keep up.

**Chapter 22: Chapter Twenty: Coworkers**

**Author's Note: **I enjoyed writing this chapter…and I introduced an OC! There are going to be two significant OCs in this story, although the main characters will, of course, be the P4 cast.

Oh, and for today's recommendation, I'd like to suggest **All Alone With You**, also by the magnificent **Gin Nanashi.**"I honestly think that her Minako is one of the best that I've ever read. She's so lifelike, it's amazing. Please, go check it out, and be sure to leave a review when you do!

And now, on to the chapter…after I post this, I have to spend the next four hours taking an online exam, chained to my desk. Ugh. Graduate school, as Adachi might say, is where fun goes to die…

**Chapter Twenty: Coworkers**

As soon as Dojima stalked into the police station, it was obvious that something was off. He was aware of everyone's eyes on him, and of various employees whispering urgently behind his back as he made his way over to the desk that he shared with his partner. Rookies were watching him, wide-eyed, and there was a weird sort of expectant atmosphere in the air that put him on edge.

"What's going on here?" he asked his partner, glowering around at the watchful eyes, and spooking a few of the newer recruits into returning to their paperwork. "What'd I miss?"

Yoshiro Takahashi, Dojima's thirty-six year old partner, didn't' even bother to look up from his desk. "Haven't you heard?" he asked in a bored sort of voice. "Oh boy, this really is going to be the morning from hell."

Dojima frowned. Takahashi's attitude tended to get on his nerves in a totally new and unexpected way. The younger detective had been reassigned to Inaba only a year or two ago, and as soon as he'd arrived, his work ethic had been exemplary. He'd been at work on time, had left work on time, and had an excellent record of efficiently solved cases. Takahashi was a perfectly respectable employee, and yet there was something about that disinterested look in his eye that grated against Dojima's sense of what a good detective should be. Takahashi simply didn't care about anything. He didn't like anything, or dislike anything. He didn't have strong feelings about cases, people, or apparently even about his own involvement in the police department. He came to work for the money, completed the jobs because they were assigned, and went home again at the end of the day without having broken a sweat. He was completely passionless about his job, and Dojima, known around town for his almost fanatical devotion to his work, just couldn't understand that at all. Takahashi, of course, didn't care if his partner didn't understand. He wasn't here to make friends

"What the hell are you babbling about?" snarled Dojima. "And hey, didn't anyone ever teach you to look at someone when you're speaking to them?"

"Maybe," murmured Takahashi, shrugging. "Don't be greedy. I imagine you must have enough people staring at you at the moment, don't you agree?"

Dojima gritted his teeth. "Tell me," he muttered, "what is going on, here? Did we make a break in a case? Did I leave a pair of underwear in the locker room, or something? It's not like I can get fired again, so what's with all this whispering? Come on, spit it out."

"There's been a prison break," said Takahashi. "Tohru Adachi, the guy behind those murders, ten years ago? Apparently he got out and no one's seen him for three days. I tried to call you last night when the news broke, but…no one picked up. You had a wedding to go to this weekend, didn't you? Well, I suppose that's probably why."

Dojima froze. He could feel his heart beating faster, and the skin on his face felt strange, stretched, and uncomfortable as he tried to wrap his head around what his partner had just said.

_It's impossible, _he assured himself, trying to maintain control. _No one escapes from that place. The security is legendary. There hasn't been a prison break in…well, in longer than I can remember. Besides, I would have heard about this on the news this morning, if he was really-! But, no, I didn't watch the news this morning. I slept in. Dinner went so late last night, and…_

"Apparently," mumbled Takahashi conversationally, "this Adachi guy used to be your partner, so naturally everyone's curious to see how you take the news. You have something of a reputation for hot-headedness…which I'm sure you already know. Really, you should do something about that; it's not good for morale. Then again, I guess it doesn't really matter at this point."

Dojima opened his mouth to snap out a response to that, when he was suddenly distracted by the sound of feet pounding heavily against the floor behind him. Turning around, he saw his nephew's new wife, Chie Satonaka running full-tilt towards his desk, accompanied a few paces back by a much more sedate-looking Naoto Shirogane.

"Dojima-san!" called Chie, panting as she pulled up to a full stop in front of his desk. "I'm sorry I'm late! I slept through my alarm, and then there was so much traffic, and I…"

"Please," murmured Naoto, "forgive our noisy intrusion. It is, I'm afraid, entirely my fault that officer Satonaka was late to work, today. You see, I asked her this morning if might accompany her to the station, to visit with a few old friends from my Inaba days. I fear that I am unused to early mornings. I beg your pardon, or both of our behalves."

"Wait…" Takahashi was gazing at Naoto with unexpected interest. "I've seen your face before, somewhere. Don't tell me. You're Naoto Shirogane, the famous private detective, aren't you?"

Naoto inclined her head politely in Takahashi's direction. "Pleased to meet you, sir," she said. "I don't believe we've been introduced…"

While Naoto and Takahashi got acquainted, Dojima grabbed Chie by the arm and hauled her away from the desk.

"Satonaka," he snarled. "Did you know about this?"

Chie's eyes went wide. "About…what, sir?" she asked. "Probably not? I mean, heh, I'm usually the last person to find out about anything…uh, not that I should be proud of that, right? Because, I'm training to be a detective, and…" she swallowed, hard, and then carefully extracted her arm from Dojima's grip. As usual, he was surprised by how strong she was, and had to remind himself that there was a reason that she'd overcome the obstacles presented by her gender, and gotten on to the force straight out of the academy. "And, sir," she added quietly, "it's Narukami, now, remember? Chie Narukami."

Dojima nodded, feeling instantly slightly ashamed. Chie may have been just another employee of the police station, but she was also his niece, and a member of his household. He took a deep breath. "Right," he muttered. "Sorry."

"What's going on?" asked Chie. "You seem, uh…kind of upset. Everyone's staring at us."

Dojima nodded curtly. "I've only just been told," he grumbled, casting a baleful look over his shoulder at Takahashi. "Tohru Adachi has escaped from prison. They released the information yesterday, apparently, while we were busy cleaning up after the wedding."

Chie's mouth fell open in shock. "W-wait, really?" she stammered. "He's…are you sure? Wow, I guess we spoke to soon about him probably being dead. Um…excuse me, please."

Temporarily taking leave of Dojima, Chie hurried over to Naoto's side, and hissed something in her ear. Naoto frowned in surprise, nodded once, and then sighed.

"It is as I feared," she mumbled, shaking her head. "It all begins again. Similar events in an unrecognizable pattern…how could this happen? I…I don't understand."

Dojima raised an eyebrow at her. "Huh? What about a pattern? What are you talking about?"

Naoto bit her lip. "Please," she murmured, nodding once at Takahashi, and then at Dojima. "I…have some business to attend to. If you'll excuse me."

With that, she exchanged a brief, alarmed look with Chie before making her way hurriedly back out of the station.

"She's worried, huh?" asked Dojima, shaking his head. "Can't say I blame her…strange, though, to see the famous Detective Prince looking like a frightened kid. Can't remember seeing that expression on her face, even when she really was a kid."

"It'll be okay," Chie assured him, although she didn't' look too much happier than Naoto did. "We caught him once, and we can catch him again. Piece of cake, Dojima-san. Maybe it's fate, actually. I mean, we are all back here for the wedding, together again, so...we're perfectly situated to catch a killer!"

Dojima glared at her, although his heart wasn't completely in it. "You kids stay out of it. This is police business…and besides, I have a score to settle. You just stay out of my way, all of you. No excuses."

Chie bit her lip. "Um, sorry," she mumbled. "But, no can do, this time. I'm, um, a policewoman now. So…this is kind of my job. Besides, Dojima-san, we're not kids anymore, remember? You don't have to keep trying to protect us. We've gotta do that for ourselves, now."

Dojima gave Chie a long, searching look. "You're wrong," he muttered. "It's my job to protect you, however the hell old you are. Not only are you a rookie, and a friend of my nephew's…but now, you're family. There's no getting around it. You're my responsibility, and that's something to take seriously, job or no job. Do you understand?"

He expected Chie to protest, or to make faces at him for treating her like a child, but instead, she gave him a hesitant little smile.

"Yeah," she said. "Actually…I think I do. Well, then, how about this? We'll have each other's back. That's what partners do for each other, right? I mean, not that we're partners, or anything, but we are on the same team, so…"

Dojima felt himself starting to smile back involuntarily. There was something so earnest and determined about the look on Chie's face that he began to see for the first time just exactly what had attracted Yu to Chie in the first place. There was a fire in this girl that reminded Dojima of the way he'd seen the world in his youth, and it was hard not to find it appealing.

"Yeah," he said. "I guess you're right about that."

Glancing over his shoulder at the desk, Dojima found that Takahashi had gone back to work, now that Naoto had excused herself and left him to his boring morning routine. The rest of the station had wandered back to desks and coffee-makers as well, and the day was proceeding as though none of its early morning excitement had ever taken place. For just a moment, Dojima found himself imagining Adachi in the midst of that scene, drumming his fingers on Takahashi's desk, or running back and forth to fill cups of coffee or relay messages between desks. The image made him smile and grimace at the same time.

Adachi had been passionate too, Dojima remembered. Yes, he'd been a slacker, and a time-waster, and he'd had too many crazy ideas that never amounted in anything or proved to be any use at all, but there had been a fire in him to improve and succeed, and to show the world what he was capable of. At the time, it had driven Dojima crazy. He'd loathed having to spend so much time on Adachi's ass, trying to keep him on task and in line, and out of the messes that he kept making for himself and the station.

"Sir?" asked Chie, sounding worried. Dojima shook himself out of his reverie.

"Come on," he told her, stalking off in the direction of the coffee-maker. "We've got a lot of work to do."

**Chapter 23: Chapter Twenty One: Believe**

**Author's Note: **Writing these Adachi chapters is exhausting. They are so intense…

Yep, no more writing, I'm going to bed.

**Chapter Twenty One: Believe**

"You're looking more and more like your mom," remarked Adachi, into the unbelievably awkward and tense silence that had sprung up between them. "Dojima-san used to keep her picture on his desk at the station, so I got used to seeing her face…and yeah, you look pretty much just like her. I bet your Dad's real proud."

"Maybe," mumbled Nanako, remembering the drinking binge he'd gone on after attending Yu and Chie's wedding. Somehow, she didn't think that her father would enjoy being constantly reminded of her mother. Maybe that was one of the reasons that he seemed to keep to himself so much these days.

"Damn," muttered Adachi, shaking his head. "This is super awkward…"

Nanako raised an eyebrow at him. Adachi laughed nervously. "Okay," he admitted, shrugging. "Understatement of the year, right?"

Nanako didn't say anything. She didn't have to. It wouldn't have made the situation any more comfortable.

"Well?" asked Adachi, suddenly holding out both wrists and giving her a lopsided grin. "I guess the party's over, now. I'm gonna have to go back to prison now that you've found me out, huh?"

_Yes, _thought Nanako. _I should call Dad. Everyone will be upset when they find out that Adachi-san's out of prison, and they'll want him back. They'll all panic. I should call the police. Then they'll…_

"Well, what are you waiting for?" insisted Adachi. "Let's just get this over with."

Nanako frowned. "But…" she murmured, "if they find out that you've escaped again, and then they take you back to prison…they'll kill you. That's what happens when someone starts to 'threaten the safety of society.' They won't feel safe keeping you in the prison anymore. I know, I saw something like it on TV last week. It was on the news."

"Nngh." Adachi swallowed hard, and Nanako could see the fear in his eyes. He tried to grin at her, although his shoulders were suddenly shaking. "Yeah, well, I'm probably better off taking my chances with your Dad than fucking around in here any longer. I'll get picked off if I stick around and keep tempting the shadows. At least Dojima-san's got those precious morals of his…so that's something. Maybe."

Nanako glanced at her shoes. "He hates you a lot," she reminded Adachi.

"Yeah…" Adachi sighed. "Should have seen that one coming." He paused for a moment, nodding to himself, and then said, "I bet you hate me too, right? After all, I'm the guy who almost got you killed. Maybe you'd kinda like to see the headline after they hang me. You'd probably sleep better at night."

Something churned miserably in the pit of Nanako's stomach as she involuntarily imagined Adachi hanging in the kind of death chamber she'd once seen in a staged photograph on the internet, when she'd caught some other kids giggling over illicit searches on a school computer. "No," she said emphatically, shaking her head. "No, I wouldn't like that. I don't think I hate you. I don't want anyone to die."

Adachi gave her a miserable little smile. "Heh, you're a nice kid," he told her, although something about the way he said it made Nanako uncertain if it was a compliment or not. "Guess some things never change."

"And…you didn't try to kill me," she reminded him. "I remember. I remember everything. It wasn't you who kidnapped me, or took me to that scary, beautiful place. It was Taro Namatame. I wasn't too young to know what was happening; I remember the way he looked…and the thing that he turned into." She shuddered, trying not to think too hard about the creature with the giant head that Namatame had become once he'd been attacked by all those dark and horrible shadow creatures. She spent a great deal of time trying not to think about that moment, mostly at night, when no one else was around to see her trying so hard.

Adachi shook his head. "What, seriously?" he asked. "Don't you get it? Didn't Dojima-san ever tell you? Come on, you've gotta have watched enough news to know what really happened. It was me the whole time. I'm the guy that started the whole thing. I committed the murders, and opened the TV World, and…I'm the one who got you caught up in that mess. It was my fault. You gotta understand that."

It was strange, thought Nanako, the way Adachi mentioned the murders so glibly, as though he was talking about what he had for lunch the day before, or something else equally inconsequential. The whole idea of murder was supposed to be terrifying and taboo, but Adachi dismissed it like it was a meaningless fact of life. It sent an unpleasant little chill down her spine to hear the way he talked about it.

"But, Dad told me what really happened," she insisted, unwilling to let his go. "He told me about your interview with the police. You said that it wasn't your fault, that some evil monster in the TV world made you kill those people."

Adachi looked genuinely astonished. "You believed me?" he asked. "That's…okay, I can understand a little kid believing that, but you're a big girl, now. I figured you'd be over that sort of thing. You know that was a bunch of crap, right? I mean, that's not…uh, it's a little more complicated than that…"

"No." Nanako shook her head, frustrated. "I know it's true. I've seen that place. There are monsters there; big, horrible monsters that use magic and breathe fire and get inside people's heads to make them do horrible things…just like Namatame-san. I was _there_. I know."

Adachi ran nervous fingers along the back of his neck. "Uh…jeez," he mumbled. "Here's a conversation I never expected to have. Listen, Nanako-chan-!"

"And when you used to come over for dinner," interrupted Nanako, "and you used to talk too much, and Dad would get so mad…you used to tell us all these things about the case, and drop hints about how the culprit was still on the loose, and everything wasn't over…Dad used to make you stop, because he didn't want to scare me, but…you were trying to tell us, weren't you? You wanted to stop. You wanted us to know the truth, I know you did! I…I just know it. You didn't want to hurt any more people, so you tried to tell us…"

Aware that she was getting overexcited, Nanako flushed slightly and bit her lip. For a long moment, neither she nor Adachi said a word.

"You're trying too hard," he muttered eventually. "Wow, you…really put some thought into this, didn't you?"

Nanako shrugged helplessly. "I didn't want you to be the bad guy," she mumbled. "I liked you. You were nice to Dad. You did magic tricks and drew me pictures when I got scared, or sad. You…you weren't supposed to be the bad guy. You were sort of like part of the family, for a little while. I didn't want that to change. Why did it have to change? Why did you…" she trailed off, watching the stunned and vaguely stricken look on Adachi's face. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, frowned, and glanced over at Margaret, who was still standing there and watching them both with an intrigued look in her passionless eyes.

"This sucks," he spat at her. "You're a bitch, you know that? You having fun yet, watching your little soap opera?"

"It's…enlightening," replied Margaret, noncommittally. Adachi scowled at her.

"Why?" asked Nanako, resting a hand impulsively on Adachi's arm. "Why did it have to happen?"

Adachi didn't look at her. Instead, he watched some place behind Margaret's head on the wall.

"I don't know," he admitted, sounding defeated as he slumped back into the chair. "It was fun when it started. It was a rush, getting whatever I wanted, showing everybody the real me. Somewhere along the way, I forgot how to stop, and then when I wanted to, it was too late."

"When you wanted to," murmured Nanako.

Adachi nodded. "One night I was sitting up in bed, watching that crazy Midnight Channel thing, and then this little girl appeared on the screen. I wanted to pretend it wasn't you. I told myself there was no way I could really know for sure, but…" He shrugged. "I'm a detective right? I detect stuff. I figure stuff out, it's my job. So…yeah, I knew. I knew, and I was scared shitless. That was when everything went pretty much to hell."

Nanako waited a few moments, but Adachi seemed to be finished speaking. "You didn't stop him," she said, unable to keep the accusing, injured note out of her voice. "You didn't stop Namatame-san."

Adachi laughed bitterly. "Nope," he agreed. "Nope, I didn't. You know what I did instead, though? I sent your Big Bro a letter, telling him to back off, or else. Who the fuck knows why I did that? I guess there was probably a reason. There's always some kind of reason. Maybe I figured if he stopped snooping around, I could get away with pulling the plug before things got worse. Maybe it had nothing to do with that, I don't know. You'd like to believe I had good intentions, right? Well, I can't help you, there. Wish I could."

He sounded like he really meant it, and Nanako tried not to let him see her looking too disappointed. "You were going to let me die," she said, and the words echoed strangely in her head even as she said them.

Adachi grimaced. "I…guess I was, yeah," he said, and he didn't look any happier than she felt. "What the hell else was I going to do? Just walk into the police station and announce that I'd been killing people left and right, but that they had to forget about that for a second because somebody else was going to kill a little girl by throwing her into a TV? Nobody was gonna believe me, anyway, and if I got locked up, it wasn't like it would help you out at all. There wasn't anything I could have done, damnit, it was too…too late, that's all."

He looked over at her for a moment, and Nanako saw the pleading, the anger, and the disgust all warring with each other for control of the space behind Adachi's eyes.

"You were scared," she said, nodding slowly. "You were scared of getting caught. You were scared of what would happen, so you told yourself it wouldn't work anyway, so you didn't have to 's right, isn't it?"

Adachi shrugged. Nanako felt herself aching and deflating, wishing he'd deny it and let her hold on to that image she'd been carrying around of a maligned man who'd been forced into becoming the enemy against his will. All she could see in him now was a broken coward with a stupidly blank look on his face that made her want to scream and hit him, to wake him and up and force him to deny that any of it had been his fault.

"Sorry," he muttered. "Looks like you figured me out after all. Nailed it that time, actually."

Nanako was aware that Margaret was still watching them intently. Adachi didn't seem to care. When Nanako risked a look over her shoulder, she could have sworn that she saw something like satisfaction glinting in Margaret's eyes. It annoyed her. It didn't feel right at all.

Turning back to Adachi, she took a deep breath. "It's okay," she told him, resting one hand on his bony shoulder. "You were just scared. It's…its okay to get scared. Everyone is like that sometimes. So…"

Adachi sucked in a sharp breath, looking as though he was about to say something.

"I forgive you," said Nanako.

The words died away on Adachi's lips, and he gaped at her.

**Chapter 24: Chapter Twenty Two: Suzume**

**Author's Note: **Sorry for the short chapter and the continued lack of **M-Path** updates. I wore myself out at the gym this morning…tomorrow, I'll make it up to you. Honestly.

Tonight's recommendation is another piece by **Palladion.x, **this time called **Freedom**. It's an incredibly personal look at her interaction with her own shadow, and it really struck a chord with me. You'll enjoy it, I guarantee it.

…I can't say I really like this chapter. I'm pretty unimpressed with it. Still, I'd be interested to hear your opinions. It is very likely that I will be re-editing it in the morning, write after I finish re-editing (for the third time) the next part of **M-Path.**

Thanks for bearing with me!

**Chapter Twenty Two: Suzume**

Somehow, Yu didn't think the situation was going to get any better. Marie didn't look as though she was ready to forgive him any time in the next few minutes, and there were very important things that he and Yosuke had to discuss with her.

_It might be best, _he decided unhappily, _to just get the hardest part over with, right now. That way she can get all of the nasty comments out of her system before it's time to talk serious business._

With that in mind, Yu steeled himself for the worst. "We missed you at the wedding," he told her. "Chie was really disappointed when you couldn't make it."

Marie's eyes narrowed sharply, and Yosuke stared at Yu as though he'd suddenly lost his mind. "Dude," hissed Yosuke. "Why bring that up at a time like this?"

"Chie," muttered Marie. "The green one. Right." She gave him exactly the same dark and brooding look that you might see in a thunder cloud, right before the lightning strikes. "So, she's the reason…" Sighing, Marie shook her head, bit her lip, and then asked, "Did she wear green to the wedding, too?"

Yu shook his head. "Traditional white," he informed her.

Marie rolled her eyes." Tch. Boring. Not like I care, anyway. Oh, by the way, the weather that day? You know, when you got married? That was the best weather this place is gonna have for the whole year."

Yu inclined his head politely. "Thank you," he said.

Marie continued to glare. "Don't thank me. It's not like I did it for you, or anything. I just felt like having a sunny day that day, that's all. Understand?"

Yu and Yosuke both nodded meekly. That seemed to mollify Marie, just a little bit. "What are you guys doing here, anyway?" she asked. "I guess you didn't come here to bug me about missing the wedding, so…what's up? I'm kind of busy, so it better be good."

Yu and Yosuke exchanged a look. "Marie," began Yu carefully. "Have you visited Margaret or Igor in the Velvet Room lately?"

Marie made a disgusted face. "Why would I visit the Nose?" she asked. "Margaret's sort of okay, but he just gets on my nerves. No, I don't go back there, not ever. I haven't been back since we left all those years ago. I don't have anything to do with that place anymore. Why?"

Taking Marie by the arm, Yu pulled her aside and did the best he could to succinctly recap the conversations he'd had with the residents of the Velvet Room. At first, Marie didn't look too impressed by Margaret's warnings about the advent of a terrifying "new evil," but her eyes went wide when Yu started recounting his more recent adventure in the TV world, and the appearance of the shadow that had gone after Yosuke.

"No," insisted Marie, shaking her head emphatically. "That's wrong. I'm not there anymore, remember? And, if I'm not there, that world has to be back to normal. It's not doing crazy stuff anymore, because no one's controlling it. You see?"

"Someone's controlling it," said Yu quietly.

Yosuke sighed. "Honestly," he admitted, "I was kind of hoping that maybe it was you. I mean, I guess I knew it wasn't, of course, but…part of me really wanted that whole thing with senpai's shadow to be some kind of angry prank that you were pulling because you were pissed off about the wedding."

Marie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, like I'd ever do something stupid like that," she mumbled. "Jerk. Anyway, no, it isn't me. Like I said before, that place has nothing to do with me, now."

Yu frowned. "So, you don't know anything about it?" he asked. "Nothing at all? It seems…strange, somehow, that someone else could take over that world without you even noticing."

"I told you, I'm busy!" Marie shouted. "I don't have time for this crap! I've got the weather to do, and some annoying new reporter that I'm supposed to be training, and on top of that I've been feeling kind of sick and gross lately, like I've got no energy for anything. If something's going on in the other world, it's somebody else's problem right now. Okay? Look, I guess I'm sorry I can't help, but-!"

"Kusumi-san?" called out a well-dressed man, stepping out of a doorway and looking harried. "It's almost time…we need you."

Marie frowned . "I have to go," she said. "Um…maybe we can talk later. Bye."

"Uh, bye!" called Yosuke, as he and Yu watched Marie's retreating back. "You should come by Junes sometime, I'm sure everybody'd like to see you!"

Marie didn't say anything. In moments, she had disappeared, and Yu and Yosuke were left standing alone, feeling disappointed and deflated.

"Well, that sure didn't help," grumbled Yosuke. "Not that I guess we should have expected too much…I mean, at least nobody died."

Yu couldn't help but agree with both of those sentiments. Even if they had failed to gather any useful information, they were remarkably going to walk out of the TV station alive. It was more than he'd been willing to hope for when they'd started out.

_And it was nice to see Marie, actually, _he told himself. _In the end, it's my fault that we lost touch. Maybe I shouldn't have waited so long. I was worried about how angry she'd be, and she is angry, but it looks like even she managed to get over the grudge. After all, she did give me a beautiful wedding day, and that says something, sort of. I shouldn't have let so many years go by…although it's too late to be thinking about that now._

He turned to say something to Yosuke, but found that Yosuke's attention had been distracted by a young woman who was walking towards them. She was small, wiry, and frail-looking, as though a gust of wind might have blown her over. She wasn't much to look at, either, although there was something pleasant and appealing about the way her pale hair curled around her face. Her smile, when she noticed Yosuke, was pretty too, and changed the shape of her face just enough to make her look a little more alive. She was carrying what looked like an expensive hand-held video camera, which was almost bigger than her head.

"Oh, hey, Suzume-san!" called Yosuke, waving enthusiastically. "Perfect timing! Um, are you busy? There's someone I want you to meet."

The girl, apparently Suzume, closed the distance between them. "I'm glad to see you, Yosuke-kun," she said quietly, shifting the camera up a bit on her shoulder. "No, I'm not busy. Actually, I'm just about to take my lunch break." Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced warily at Yu, who did his best to stand up straight and to look like the picture of a perfect wingman.

"Yu Narukami," said Yosuke formally, "meet Suzume Moto. She's a camerawoman for the local nightly news. Oh, and Suzume, this is Yu Narukami. He's pretty much my best friend in the whole world, and he just moved here from the big city, so…hopefully we can all hang out together, sometime."

Suzume gave Yu a smile. "Oh, you're Narukami? It's really nice to finally meet you…Yosuke-kun talks about you all the time. Only good things, though! It sounds like the two of you had a lot of fun together in college. I've heard so many stories. He's been so happy about you coming back to town…"

Yu raised an eyebrow at Yosuke. "Which stories, exactly?" he asked.

Suddenly, Yosuke looked uncomfortable. "Uh…just some of them. You know, um…hey, can we change the subject?"

Apparently Suzume was on her way to her car, so Yosuke and Yu walked her out into the parking lot.

"Hey Suzume," began Yosuke, taking a deep breath. "Yu and I were just talking, and we were wondering if maybe, sometime next week, you'd like to maybe…I don't know, head over to Okina with us and see a movie? Us meaning, uh, Yu, his wife Chie, and me."

Suzume blinked in surprise. "A movie? Oh, I don't usually go to movies…they're so expensive, and sometimes really long…um, it's embarrassing, but I sometimes fall asleep."

"Oh, right." Yosuke seemed temporarily at a loss. "Well, what about dinner, then? This new placed just opened where the old coffee shop used to be. I hear it's pretty nice, and has an impressive menu."

_Good, _thought Yu. _Hopefully they serve steak._

"Oh, I'd love to," murmured Suzume. "But I never eat out, because I can't eat very much. Maybe I just have a small stomach…"

Yosuke began to look slightly panicked. "Um…sure, that's fine." He frowned for a few moments in thought, and then hazarded, "Do you like music?"

Watching Yosuke's desperation was getting a bit too painful. Yu decided to step in. "Actually," he said, "I was thinking of inviting everyone over on Friday to celebrate Chie and I moving back into town. We'd love to have you at our party, Suzume-san, if you think that's something you'd enjoy."

"Huh?" asked Yosuke. "Wait, but didn't we celebrate that already, right after you got married?"

Yu gave Yosuke a significant look. Yosuke flushed. "Oh, right!" he said quickly. "Right, yeah, a party sounds like a great idea! So, Suzume? What do you say?"

This time, Suzume smiled hesitantly. "A party? Well, as long as it's not too far away…"

Obviously relieved, Yosuke agreed to get back in touch with her as soon as he had more details, and then they watched as Suzume drove her car out into the street. As soon as she was gone, Yosuke turned to Yu and gave him a big, broad grin.

"You're the best, partner," he said. "Seriously, thanks. I knew you wouldn't let me down. So…what do you think?"

Yu was confused "Of what?" he asked.

Yosuke looked impatient. "You know, of Suzume! She's really pretty, isn't she? Man, it took me weeks juts to get up the courage to talk to her…and now, it's not awkward at all!"

As they climbed back into their own car, Yu wondered to himself just exactly what Yosuke saw in this Suzume girl. She wasn't ugly, of course, but she wasn't the kind of obvious beauty that Yosuke usually went for. There barely seemed to be any life in her. She wasn't energetic, or enthusiastic, and didn't seem to have any kind of spark at all that would have appealed to Yosuke, whom Yu was aware had pretty picky tastes when it came to girls.

It was only when they had left the parking lot, and were on their way back into town that Yu realized what had been bothering him about Suzume.

_Light-colored curly hair, _he thought, frowning to himself. _Oh, jeez…_

**Chapter 25: Chapter Twenty Three: Yes, Sir**

**Author's Note: **Sorry guys, just a short one tonight.

I'll make an awesome recommendation, though, to make up for it. Today, I'd like to recommend **Persona 4 FES** by **Supernova23**. I've been lucky enough to hear from the author about some of what he's planning for the future of this story, and trust me when I say that you won't want to miss it. I can't wait for the next chapter, and if you go and read it now, you can get caught up by the time he updates! Hurry, this story will wait, go read that one first.

**Chapter Twenty Three: Yes, Sir**

Dojima ended up spending most of the day on the phone, taking statements from confused and overexcited Inaba residents who all claimed to have seen suspicious characters in town. Many of them were either too young or too new to the Inaba area to be personally familiar with Tohru Adachi, while others were too old or incoherent to have really trustworthy testimonies. It wasn't long before Dojima found himself exhausted and losing patience. He normally hated jobs like this one, and tried as hard as he could to pawn them off on the rookies, but this time he was taking no chances. He didn't want to risk missing out on any piece of information that might help lead him to Adachi's whereabouts, and his best chance of getting the job done right involved making sure he did it himself.

After hanging up the phone for the umpteenth time, he wiped his brow, took a deep breath, tried to calm his impatience and decided to go for a cup of coffee and a five minute break. Standing up from his desk, he noticed that Chie was hovering a few feet behind him, holding a mug in both hands.

"Huh?" he asked. "What is it?"

Chie held the mug out for him. "Um," she said, "you looked busy, so I brought you a cup of coffee. Sorry, it's in my mug, so…"

Dojima examined the mug. It was bright green, and had the words "Hagakure Steak Bowl Champion 2016" printed in white letters across the side.

"Thanks," he told her, taking a sip. There was sugar in it, and it was way too sweet, but he managed not to make a face.

"Oh, don't mention it!" Chie looked pleased. "So, um…how's the investigation going?"

Dojima narrowed his eyes. With the station in an uproar over Adachi's escape, this was hardly the appropriate time for small talk. He had work to do, and she probably did too. Dojima was preparing to give her a lecture on the subject when he became aware that the Inaba police chief, Taiga Watanaba, was walking towards them through the rows of desks.

"Dojima," he barked. "Satonaka." Both Dojima and Chie stood to attention. The chief was in his mid-thirties, much younger than a police chief probably should be in Dojima's opinion. He was tall, heavy-set, muscular and sleek, with a sharp voice and a hard edge to his eyes. He was, in fact, the very perfect picture of the stereotypical kind of policeman from some sort of popular, big-budget movie, and apparently he knew it. He was cocky and self-impressed, and Dojima didn't like him. Judging by the look on Chie's face, he decided that she probably didn't like the chief much, either.

"Sir!" muttered Dojima, as Watanabe walked by. The chief gave him a quick, dismissive look before turning his attention to Chie.

"Satonaka," he commanded. Dojima noticed that Chie didn't correct him. "You and Takahashi will be teaming up on the Adachi case. Go and have him catch you up on some of the details from the first arrest."

Chie shot a startled look at Dojima. "But, sir," she began. "Detective Dojima is Detective Takahashi's partner. He's in the middle of-!"

"Detective Dojima," interrupted the chief, "is busy answering the phones. Besides, he'll be gone in a few days. I want some consistency in this investigation; I want to make sure that someone's seeing it through from beginning to end. Consider this your first major assignment as a detective-in-training. Some of the higher-ups might not like it, but I think we can put our faith in you. Don't screw it up."

Somehow, Dojima managed not to say anything, although there were voices bellowing with rage in the back of his mind. He felt sick to his stomach, and opened his mouth to protest, but choked it down again and gritted his teeth against the words and feelings that were trying to get out.

_He does have a point, _he told himself forcefully. _Consistency is important, and it's not like there's much that I can do in only a few days. _Thinking about that didn't make the situation feel any better, even if it was rational.

"Is there a problem?" asked the chief in the midst of Chie's stunned silence.

There was a short, tense moment during which Dojima watched Chie swallow hard and square her shoulders.

"Yes, sir," she squeaked. "There is."

The chief looked surprised. "Excuse me? There is a problem?"

There was panic in Chie's eyes, but she continued to stand her ground." Yes, sir," she repeated.

"Hey, hang on," began Dojima. "Satonaka, you don't have to-!"

"I'm sorry, sir," continued Chie, shaking her head. "It's just that I don't feel comfortable working on such a huge case. I'm barely even out of the academy, and I still get lost on my way to the station, sometimes. Um, it's like you said. I can't screw up my first case, right? So…I don't want to let anybody down."

Dojima and the chief both stared at her, as she radiated frantic innocence from every pore.

"Well…" The chief sighed, frowning and scratching his head with one finger as he thought. "I can't say your concerns are unreasonable, and I suppose it might be a bit much to ask you and Takahashi to do this alone, since he's pretty new to the force as well…" He sighed. "Okay, okay, tell you what. Dojima, I want you to spend the rest of the afternoon getting both of them up to speed on the Adachi case. We'll put you temporarily on the Adachi team as well, for just as long as it takes to get Satonaka and Takahashi feeling like they're capable of going forward on their own. You're backup, that's all. You'll be watching their backs and helping them to get going in the right direction, is that understood?"

"Understood, sir," murmured Dojima, a bit stunned. "But…just like you said, I'll be leaving in a few days. That's hardly enough time."

The chief shrugged. "We'll talk about that later," he muttered. "Just get back to work, for now."

Once the chief had left, Dojima stood for a moment in silence, trying to process everything that had just happened.

"I'm sorry, sir," mumbled Chie. "I...really will feel better, knowing that I've got you on my side."

Dojima raised an eyebrow at her. "You meant that?" he asked. "All that stuff about not feeling comfortable taking the case on by yourself?"

"Uh, yeah!" replied Chie quickly. "Of course! I mean, I am just a rookie, and I'm falling all over myself just trying to get people's names straight! I lose half the paperwork and I forget to sign in, and I…" she trailed off, watching the look on Dojima's face. "I could really use your help, that's all, Dojima-san. Really."

Dojima nodded slowly. Reaching out, he clapped Chie on the shoulder, and muttered, "Well…Thanks."

As they walked back to what was now their combined work station, he frowned, turned to her, and remarked, "You know, you're family, now. You don't actually have to call me sir, or Dojima-san…I mean, I guess technically, I'm your uncle."

Chie looked honestly alarmed. "Um…I don't…think that I can call you 'uncle,'" she admitted. "Aheh, that would be…pretty weird, don't you think?"

**Meanwhile, at the Dojima residence…**

Unexpectedly, Yu and Yosuke found Naoto waiting in the kitchen for them as soon as they arrived back at the Dojima house.

"Senpai," murmured Naoto politely. "Were you able to locate Marie-chan?"

"Yeah," sighed Yosuke, shrugging. "She wasn't much help, though. I guess it's something, at least, that she doesn't know anything about the TV world acting up. If she doesn't know anything, it can't be that bad, right?"

"Not necessarily," mumbled Yu. "Anyway, we didn't learn anything new. What about you, Naoto? I thought you were with Chie at the police station."

Naoto nodded. "I was, "she told them. "Chie-senpai is still there, speaking with Dojima-san and the other detectives. I felt that my presence was no longer required."

Something about the strained look on Naoto's face told Yu that there were things she wasn't saying.

"Hey, um, Yosuke," he asked on an impulse." Can you do me a favor? I think I left my soda out in the car. I hate to be a pain, but do you think you could grab it for me? I want to clean up a bit in here, too."

Yosuke rolled his eyes. "Come on, man," he muttered. "You can't just leave drinks and food and stuff lying around like that,. Didn't you say it was a new car? You don't want the back seat smelling like old soda for the rest of the week, right?"

On that note, Yosuke turned around and left the house. Yu raised an eyebrow at Naoto, who relaxed slightly as soon as she heard the door close.

"What is it?" he asked.

Naoto nodded slowly. "Adachi-san has escaped from prison," she informed him. "The police are in the process of conducting an investigation into his sudden disappearance, although as of yet, there seem to be no leads as to his whereabouts or even to the means of his escape. This incident, coming so closely on the heels of the warnings you received and on those of our own encounter with Saki Konishi's shadow cannot be a coincidence. It seems that, for the second time, Tohru Adachi has some kind of connection to the disturbances in the TV world."

"Oh. " Yu began thinking very quickly. _I'm an idiot, _he told himself. _I should have known that the police would discover Adachi's disappearance, sooner or later. After all, if they've got him in the Velvet Room then he can't be back in prison at the same time, right? So, he must have escaped. Why did I send the girls to the police station today? Now I'll have to explain…then again, it's not as though we wouldn't have heard about this on the news over the next few days. There doesn't seem to be any way around this. Maybe it's for the best…_

"Senpai," said Naoto, breaking into Yu's frustrated reverie. He looked up to see her frowning at him, perplexed. "You do not seem surprised by this turn of events. Is it possible that you…?"

Yu took a deep breath. "Yes," he said. "Yes, it's…okay, I think I'd better explain. Let's see if we can get everybody back here, first, though. It'll…probably be easier that way."

"

**Chapter 26: Chapter Twenty Four: A Good Place**

**Author's Note: **Okay, these next two chapters go together, and are full of mythological stuff. I'm not going to put the entire explanation behind my persona choices in this author's note, but if you're curious about them, then please feel free to ask me! I have answers!

**Chapter Twenty Four: The World is a Good Place**

"Margaret says that something horrible is going to happen," said Nanako, as Adachi continued to sit there, staring at her at an apparent loss for words. "She says that it's going to be like last time, only worse, and that Big Bro and his friends are in danger. She says that you can do something to help, because you're 'powerful.' Is that true? Are you 'powerful' enough to help?"

"Heh." Adachi shook his head. "Weren't you listening to all of the stuff I said, just now? I can barely clean up after myself. How the hell am I supposed to help your dumbass friends? If they had any sense, they'd stay out of this too, for their own good. Besides, I'm not exactly gonna be the first pick for their team, you know?"

Nanako narrowed her eyes at him, and planted her hands on her hips. "But you are going to help," she informed him. "You have to. You can do it to make up for the bad things that happened before."

"Please," muttered Adachi, rolling his eyes. "Is that what you think? It doesn't work like that."

Nanako stood her ground. "Try anyway," she ordered him. "It's the right thing to do, and you know it."

"Yeah, and I really don't care," began Adachi, but he was interrupted by another voice that spoke up from somewhere just behind Nanako's left shoulder.

"But you have to care!" cried the voice, which was small and childlike, and yet sounded strangely like Nanako's own voice. "That's the way this is supposed to work. We treat others the way we want to be treated, just like Dad always says. If you want people to forgive you, then you have to do good things! That will help everyone see how good you really are, and then everything will be okay again! It will all go back to normal, right?"

"What the…? Aw, crap," muttered Adachi, his eyes going wide. Nanako turned around to see a little girl standing behind her, wearing a pretty pink jumper, with her hair in two perfect pigtails, complete with Nanako's own red ribbons. There was a blissful little smile on the girl's face as she prattled on, and Nanako felt an eerie shiver run up her spine when she realized that she was somehow inexplicably staring into her own eyes…or rather, the eyes of the young girl she had been maybe ten years ago.

"Who…who are you?" asked Nanako, involuntarily reaching up to check if her own hair ribbons were still in place. "Why are you dressed like that? You look just like me when I was a little girl."

"Uh huh!" agreed the other Nanako, beaming back at her. "Stuff was really great back then, remember? My friends and I used to play together all the time! A lot of times, Dad didn't come home until really late, but then when he did we'd get to stay up and watch TV together, and sometimes he'd even take me out shopping or to Samegawa! There wasn't a lot of homework, and everything was so much fun! I made new friends, too, when Big Bro came to visit, and we all played together when they weren't at school…I really liked it back then. Being a little kid was the best!"

"Yes," murmured Nanako thoughtfully. "Yes, it was nice to be a child…but it was hard, too. I felt lonely a lot…I'm glad that I grew up and that I can take care of myself, now. It's easier to get by without having to rely so much on other people, now that I'm old enough to handle things without them."

Little Nanako shook her head. "Not really," she retorted. "It's not really like that at all. Now that I'm big, no one pays any attention to me. They expect me to know how to do everything without being told, to never ask for help, and to always be alone. Big Bro and his friends don't come and play with me anymore, because they're too busy with adult stuff, now. Dad doesn't even want me anymore because I'm not a little girl, so I can't make him feel special like little kids do for their mommies and daddies."

"No," insisted Nanako, biting her lip. "No, it's not like that at all. I can do things myself, I really can. I'm glad that people can put more trust in me, now that I'm almost an adult. I'm proud of who I've become. I'm proud of my new responsibilities."

"But," whispered Little Nanako, "the world isn't a very nice place, is it? I thought it would be good to grow up, but…everything's hard and it hurts." Suddenly, the strange Little Nanako turned to gaze at Adachi, looking sad and disappointed. "It was easier, when I was a little girl," she murmured wistfully. "I could pretend that things were the way I wanted them to be. I could pretend that you were all heroes, and that you loved me and that everything was going to be okay. I imagined that the world was full of good people who did bad things, but that those good people could get better if they really tried. It was nice to think those things. It was happier, then. Now, nothing's the way it's supposed to be. I wish I'd never had to grow up and leave all that pretty stuff behind."

"Sorry," whispered Adachi miserably. "I…shit, I didn't know. Not that it would have made much of a difference, I guess…"

Little Nanako smiled at him, although there were suddenly tears in her eyes. Nanako could feel similar tears running down her own cheeks.

"It's okay," Little Nanako assured him. "I understand. It's not your fault. I was wrong, before. I see it, now. The world is a cruel place full of things that hurt. It's not a good place to live in at all. That's why people do bad things. That's why we hurt each other. We can't help it. It's just the way the world really is."

"Stop it," sobbed Nanako, shaking her head furiously. "No, that's not true…I know it's not true. I don't really believe that, and I never will!"

Little Nanako looked mildly surprised. "Oh, but you do!" she said. "I know you do! You see…you and I are the same. Did you forget about me? That's okay…I forgive you. You couldn't help it. It's not your fault."

"You're wrong!" Nanako put her hands over her ears, trying to shut out the way she was talking to herself, and the way those words were making her feel. It ached inside, burned in her chest and she felt like screaming and running out of the room. "You're wrong, I've never felt that way!" she insisted. "I've never thought those things, and you're not me!"

"Ah," muttered Margaret, her eyes widening.

"Oh!" squealed Little Nanako, pouting. "That's so mean! Why won't' you just listen? You're making me so sad!"

Suddenly, Little Nanako began to grow in size, slowly but surely, until she was towering over Nanako, Adachi, and even Margaret. Nanako stepped backward of out of Little Nanako's range, as Little Nanako was abruptly engulfed in a searing, blinding light that Nanako found she couldn't look directly into. She did manage to catch a glimpse, when she dared to try and look out of the corner of her eye, of a huge, black angel with a cracked halo dangling around her neck, and with her heavy, heavenly kimono in muddy tatters.

"I am a shadow," sang out the angel, who had only recently been the projection of Little Nanako. "The true self. Let me show you the truth and shatter your perfect world!"

The angel lunged, and smacked Nanako to the ground, taking off her halo and slicing it down across Nanako's leg. The jagged crack on the halo opened up on a wound that began bleeding profusely, and Nanako screamed as the angel prepared itself for a second blow.

Some basic survival instincts kicked in, and Nanako rolled out of the way, dodging the second attack. When she looked up, she found herself lying on the ground at Adachi's feet, while the angel loomed closer. Adachi got up and kicked the chair out of the way, backing himself up against the nearest wall with horror in his eyes as he watched the descent of the angel.

"Please," begged Nanako desperately, reaching out for Adachi's retreating form." Help me! Adachi-san!"

"I…I can't," muttered Adachi desperately. "What do you want from me? I'm not…"

The angel flung the halo again, and this time it connected with Nanako's head, sending her reeling and seeing stars. She gasped, clutching her skull and found herself unable to keep her eyes open as the world began to slip away into a spinning realm of blackness.

"Shit," snarled Adachi from somewhere in the midst of that blackness. "Oh, crap…"

_Big Bro, _thought Nanako hazily, trying to hang on to consciousness. _I'm sorry…I couldn't help. I tried…_

Suddenly, there was a loud noise from somewhere in front of her, and then a shriek of pain that sounded more animal than human. Forcing her eyes open against the waves of exhaustion and pain, Nanako saw Adachi standing in between her and the angel, his body shaking as a giant, horrible creature with a wicked looking sword turned a pair of empty eyes on the angel, and then sliced it twice across the chest, again making it scream and flutter backwards.

"Ziodyne," rasped Adachi, and the terrible creature with the sword suddenly had sparks of powerful lightning ripping through the angel, sending the angel crashing to the ground.

Nanako got to her feet and made her way hesitantly towards the fallen angel. When she neared Adachi, she was surprised and frightened of the strange, maniacal light that she saw in his eyes as he gazed down at the angel with a creepy, half-smile made of gritted teeth.

"Vorpal Bla-!" he began again, but Nanako reached out and touched him with one hand, shaking her head.

"No," she insisted. "It's okay, now. You hurt it. No more, please."

"Wha-?" Adachi turned away from the angel to glare at her. When he met Nanako's eyes, some of the battle light in his faded away, and he started breathing heavily, glancing down in sickened surprise at his own hands, and then at the creature he'd apparently summoned.

"Impressive," murmured Margaret. Nanako started, having completely forgotten that Margaret was even in the room.

"You're a strong girl," continued the attendant, crossing over to where Nanako and Adachi stood. "I concede now that my master wasn't wrong in suggesting that we invite you to this place. You have proved more powerful and successful than even he had expected. It is possible that I owe you an apology…"

"Why the hell didn't you do anything?" spat Adachi. "You just stood there the whole time! The hell is this all about? She could have gotten killed, and you know it!"

Margaret gave him an amused little smile. "But she didn't, did she?" she asked, shrugging.

Slowly, the fallen angel dissolved and disappeared, turning back again into the childlike form of Little Nanako, who rubbed her head unhappily and sat up, looking hurt.

"Ow," mumbled Little Nanako. "Why are you so mean? I'm only trying to help…do you not love me anymore?"

Nanako wasn't quite sure what to say. There was something in Little Nanako's eyes that she recognized, something that got right to the core of her soul and made places inside her ache and twist that she hadn't let herself get in touch with for a long time. The little girl staring up at her with beseeching eyes was the same girl that Nanako knew she'd been so many years ago, and the same girl that still resided somewhere special in her heart, waiting for a chance to laugh and dance around in the wonderful world in which she'd imagined she'd be able to grow up.

"I'm sorry," she told Little Nanako, reaching down to help the shadow creature to her feet. "It was wrong to hurt you. I'll always love you. You know that, right?"

Little Nanako nodded unhappily. "I guess…" she mumbled.

"But," continued Nanako, "I'm almost an adult, now. Some things about the world are different from the way I expected them to be, and life is harder than it was when we were young. I know that. You're right that sometimes I think the world is a horrible place, but…we have to think about the good things, too. After all, we had a wonderful childhood, didn't we? We were very happy, once. If we were happy once, we can be happy again, and we already know that the world is full of good things. Maybe it's harder to find them, now, but we have to keep trying. We can't give up. Do you understand?"

"Yeah." Again, Little Nanako nodded." Okay. I'm sorry."

Nanako smiled. "I forgive you," she whispered. "Can you forgive me, too?"

The air around Little Nanako began to shimmer and glitter, and again the body of the little girl began to change. Startled, Nanako steeled herself for another attack. This time, however, when Little Nanako finished changing, she was again an angel, but with a beautiful, glowing halo fully restored and resting delicately on masses of long, lovely black hair. Her red kimono flowed around her ankles as she gazed down at Nanako with infinite kindness and understanding radiating from every feature.

_The strength of heart to let go of the past has been made manifest, _said a voice that Nanako didn't recognize.

"Huh?" she asked, glancing around, but seeing no one.

_Nanako has faced and forgiven the past, _continued the voice. _She has obtained the façade used to face the unforeseeable future…the persona Tatsu-Ta-Hime._

Then the glitter faded, as did the angel, and Nanako felt something settle heavily but comfortably into her heart and mind. She felt suddenly more alive and inexplicably safe than she ever had before, and she turned to Adachi with wide, delighted eyes.

It was only then that she realized that Adachi had lost interest in her and the angel. Instead, he had locked eyes with those of his own persona, and the two of them seemed to be staring each other down, neither of them moving. As they gazed at each other, the terrifying, sword-wielding persona began to shrink and change as well, until it looked like the perfect image of Adachi himself, only again with those strange, yellow eyes.

**Author's Endnote: **There's actually a lot more to come in this scene, but it will have to wait until I publish the next chapter. I have to go to work for the rest of the evening, so stay tuned for the startling conclusion to this epic moment!

**Chapter 27: Chapter Twenty Five: Pick and Choose**

**Author's Note: **This chapter…was hard. I don't like it at all. That seems to be a theme with my work lately…maybe it's time to take a break for a few days until I figure out how to write again.

That's really all I've got on the subject. Oh, except that I'm pretty excited about the persona that reveals itself at the end of this chapter.

**Chapter Twenty Five: Pick and Choose**

"Whoa," said the Other Adachi. "Man, I gotta admit, I'm almost impressed. Wasn't sure you had it in you." Then he shook his head and smiled a sarcastic , lopsided smile. "Nah, that's a lie. After all, you're me, right? So duh, of course you had it in you. After all, I'm in you, aren't I? Without me, that annoying kid would be dead meat by now. You've got me to thank for your heroic little rescue. You're welcome!"

"Shut up," mumbled Adachi. "Anyway, it's all over now, so…just get lost, will you? I don't need you anymore."

Other Adachi raised an eyebrow. "Shit, really? Just like that? Is that seriously all I get? You don't 'need me anymore', huh? You're even more of a dumbass than I thought! Come on, it's time to face the facts, Adachi. Without me, you'd never even have made it this far. With me, you can do pretty fucking amazing things. We had some real fun that one time in Inaba, right? You got a huge charge out of leading the entire police department on that stupid wild goose chase…and you'd never have even known where to start without me."

"Tch." Adachi didn't say anything, but Nanako could his fists clenching and unclenching nervously at his sides.

"Oh, and remember those ten years we spent in prison?" continued Other Adachi, leaning back casually against the wall and rolling his eyes. "Sure you do. Hey, who could forget? It was only pretty much the worst experience of our entire lives." He grimaced, shuddering a little. "Anyway, do you really think you would have survived living in that shithole without me? You're a joke. Hell, you can barely put your socks on without finding some way to fuck it up. You're a screw up, get it? Me, I'm the survivor, and I'm the one that has it all under control. Without me, you'd be dead. So quit pretending; you're not fooling anybody. You're not even fooling yourself."

Adachi and his other self were still frozen in place, staring into each other's eyes, as though the rest of the room had suddenly ceased to exist. Nanako took an instinctive step forward towards them, but Margaret's hand on her shoulder stopped her in her tracks.

"This is not your fight," murmured Margaret.

"But-!" began Nanako.

"Don't expect me to be grateful," snarled Adachi, shaking his head. "Seriously? You're the one who got me locked up in the first place. You think that's what I wanted?"

"Uh, yeah," retorted Other Adachi. "I know that's what you wanted. Hey, you can go ahead and take some of the credit for that whole prison thing. If you'd just left it up to me, we'd never have gotten caught! I had everything under control! It was only when you decided to grow a goddamn conscience that we started losing our own game. All you had to do was to keep your damn mouth shut, but no. You started wandering around, running your mouth, dropping hints about the case…jeez, the sleep I lost just trying to clean up after the shit you pulled. Like you really thought you were gonna be able to stop me? When are you gonna get it through your head that you _are_ me? You know…we could have been a killer team. Hehe, killer team…hey, that's a good one. I crack myself up. Anyway, though, looks like you're just not much of a team player. Sucks for you, but I guess it's' time for me to take charge of the situation...again. This body just isn't big enough for the both of us, huh? Too bad…oh well. You always were pretty much a pain in my ass. So long, 'Adachi.''

Something in the pit of Nanako's heart began to tingle urgently. A shiver shot through her spine, and she gasped as Tatsu-ta-hime suddenly re-materialized in front of her, holding out both hands towards the pair of Adachis. The air around Nanako began to crystallize and calm, and she felt as though a huge weight was suddenly lifting off of her shoulders as her whole body and mind relaxed in the presence of her persona.

There were strange, shadowy images now in Nanako's mind, although they were really more like feelings than like truly visual pictures. Without actually being able to literally "see" anything, she rather understood things about Shadow Adachi that she had no real means of understanding. She could sense his rage, his passion, his bitter pleasure, and also the more subtle things about him, such as the unexpected hidden weaknesses couched within his section of the Adachi soul.

"Wow," she whispered. "What…what is this power?"

Other Adachi was transforming now, again taking the shape of the terrifying, empty-eyed monster with the wicked-looking sword. Adachi himself was backing away, eyes wide, his mouth working but no sound coming out.

"Don't worry," hissed the creature that Other Adachi had become. "I will help you…to disappear, forever!"

The creature lashed out with his sword, slicing Adachi hard across the face and drawing blood. Adachi stumbled back, clutching the wound on his cheek and shouting in pain and anger.

_Adachi-san, no! _thought Nanako desperately. As the words formed in her mind, Adachi's eyes widened, and he turned to stare at Nanako in surprise.

Nanako blinked. _What? _She thought. _What's wrong? No, don't look at me, pay attention! Run away! He's coming after you again!_

"Uh, r-right," mumbled Adachi. He dove out of the way of a bolt of lightning that crackled and singed the floor where he'd been only moments before The creature that had come out of Other Adachi somehow managed to look frustrated without moving a single facial muscle.

Nanako blinked. _Wait, _she thought. _Can you…hear me?_

"Yep," muttered Adachi. "And it's kinda weirding me out. Guess I should be used to that feeling by now, though. Aw, crap!"

He was too slow to avoid the slash of the creature's sword, which came down across his foot, wounding him and sending him limping as fast as he could for the far well. The creature stood still for a moment and watched him disdainfully.

"What the hell," Adachi panted, shaking his head and backing himself up against the wall to face the creature. "What is this, some kind of joke? I'm not even fucking armed!"

"You're the joke," retorted the creature, in a remarkable imitation of Adachi's own voice. "You're pathetic. Come on, is this seriously the best you can do?"

Again, a bolt of lightning shot out of the creature, striking Adachi straight in the chest. He screamed and writhed in pain, crumpling over on top of himself. The creature shook its head.

"Stop…stop it," rasped Adachi, wrapping both arms around the wound in his chest and breathing hard. "What the hell do you…even want?"

"I want you to get it through your thick skull," shouted the creature. "I'm the one in charge, here! There's only one way to survive in this world, and that's my way! You're either in, or you're out, and it's pretty damn obvious that you're out. Not that you were ever anything but a pain in the ass to begin with…you're worthless without me! Worthless, understand?"

"Mmm," murmured Margaret, frowning. "I fear the Shadow has an unfortunately valid point. It appears that the long-anticipated powers of our new Wild Card are significantly less impressive than expected. My master must have miscalculated. It…is unlikely, but note entirely unprecedented. This man is no hero. He is nothing but a disappointment."

Something inside Nanako objected to that, and she shook her head, glaring at Margaret out of the corner of her eye. _No, _she thought. _That's not fair. It's not true! Adachi-san is not worthless. I know Dad hates him now, and I know why, and I understand, but…I remember when Dad used to come home laughing because of some joke that Adachi-san had told him to cheer him on the way back from an arrest. Adachi-san was smart! He had to have been smart, or he'd never have fooled dad for so long! Dad knew he was smart, too, and sometimes he'd say stuff like 'that lazy rookie is too smart for his own good,' or 'if only he wasn't so damn smart…if things had been harder for him growing up, maybe he'd have learned how make an effort or do some damn work!' And…and when I was scared, Adachi-san made me feel better. He drew me pictures, and sometimes showed me magic tricks. I know maybe he didn't mean it, now. I know it wasn't real, but…it worked anyway. It did make me feel better. That counts for something, maybe._

Realizing she'd become lost in her own frustrated thoughts, Nanako forced herself to focus, and looked back over at the scene taking place between the two Adachi's. Both of them seemed to have temporarily lost interest in one another, and were now staring at Nanako, doing mirror-image impressions of a fish out of water.

"Um," began Adachi. "Wait, Dojima-san said that? Really? Whoa. How come this is the first time I'm hearing about it? Would have been nice to know before…"

He winced suddenly, and doubled over as a fresh wave of pain overcame him. Nanako bit her lip as his other self, no longer distracted, apparently, by Nanako's thought process prepared to make another attack.

"You have to help him!" Nanako shouted, turning to Margaret.

Margaret just shook her head. "It is not my place," she murmured. "I am not permitted to interfere."

"But he doesn't stand a chance!" insisted Nanako desperately. "He's all alone. It's not fair…it's not fair that he has to be all alone. Somebody needs to do something!"

_I need to do something, _she realized. _I can do it with my power. I won't let him be alone, just like Dad and Big Bro never left me alone when I needed them. They came to rescue me when I was scared. Now, I'm the one who has power. They already taught me how to use it when they showed me how brave they could be. No one has to be alone and scared anymore. Not Big Bro, not Dad…not even Adachi-san. Not even me._

Nanako gazed into the eyes of her persona, and felt a wave of calm confidence wash over her. Without another thought, she crossed the room, planting herself and Tatsu-ta-hime in between the two Adachis. They both stared at her.

"Tatsu-ta-hime," she commanded her persona. "Healing wave."

The persona nodded, raised both hands, and bowed to both Adachis. At the same instant, the real Adachi sucked in a breath, shuddered, and then slowly straightened himself up.

"No more," Nanako told the creature that had come out of Other Adachi. "You're hurting him. That won't solve anything. I already said that I forgive you. I forgive you both."

Slowly, the creature mutated back into the form of Other Adachi, who blinked at her in wary surprise. "Why?" he asked, with the hint of a sneer in his voice.

Nanako shrugged. "Because I want to," she admitted. "Because I want to believe in the Adachi-san that was a part of my family, but I know that I can't just pick the parts of people that I like. You were part of my family too, only you hurt me very, very much. You made me scared and you made me cry. I can't feel better about that until I forgive you, because when I do that, it means it's really over. I want it to be over. I want it to be the way it was, more than anything. Do you understand that?"

There was a long, tense, contemplative silence.

"The parts of people that you like, huh?" muttered Adachi thoughtfully. "You know," he added, giving Other Adachi a little lopsided smile, "she's talking about me, right?"

"Tch," muttered Other Adachi. "I already told you, without me you'd never have survived long enough to hear it. You need me."

"And without me," countered Adachi, "you're…well, a monster. I mean…literally."

Unexpectedly, that made Other Adachi snort out a laugh. "Fine," he mumbled, shaking his head. "This shit is boring, anyway. What do you say, truce?"

"Yeah, like that'd ever happen," mumbled Adachi.

Other Adachi shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said. "Not like it makes a difference anyway. Next time you've got your back against the wall, you're gonna turn to me to bail you out, just like you always do. You're a sucker for an easy out, remember? Don't think this changes anything."

"Nah," agreed Adachi. "Nah, maybe it doesn't. All that shit, though, that happened before...it's over, now. It's in the past. Speaking of easy outs, looks like I'm getting a second chance to not suck at this. Maybe I'm shit at being the good guy, and I'm sure as hell not a hero, but…let's see who wins the next round. I'm game."

Other Adachi grinned at him. "You're on," he said.

Other Adachi nodded once, and then the air around him began to sparkle and glow in the same way that it had when Nanako's persona had first emerged. Yet again, the form of Other Adachi began to twist and change, and Nanako glanced over her shoulder at Margaret, desperately wishing that the attendant would step in, now that Nanako had entirely emptied her bag of tricks.

When the sparkle cleared, however, and Other Adachi was again fully visible, Nanako was startled by the shape he'd apparently taken. He was in fact no longer a "he" at all, but was in fact a scantily clad woman with her hair wrapped artistically around and around her body, shielding her skin from curious eyes. She threw her arms out to either side, threw back her head, and laughed in an almost hysterical way that sent a startled chill straight down Nanako's spine and through every bone in her body. It was more of a cackle, she decided, than a laugh.

_The strength of heart to let go of the past has been made manifest, _sad the mysterious, disembodied voice a second time. _Adachi has faced and forgiven the past. He has obtained the façade used to face the unforeseeable future; the persona Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto._

"A-amazing," whispered Margaret, looking genuinely shocked. "It wasn't a mistake after all…quite the contrary."

"Holy…holy shit," mumbled Adachi, staring up at the slightly crazed expression on his new persona's face. "What does that…? Ugh." Unable to withstand the pain and the exhaustion any longer, he suddenly collapsed and sprawled out on the ground.

"Adachi-san!" exclaimed Nanako in alarm, bending down next to him. After a moment, he picked his face up off the floor, glanced at his persona, and then back at Nanako.

"Am I crazy," he asked, "or is she, uh…not wearing any clothes? Wow."

Nanako also looked over at the persona, and then turned slightly pink. "That's…that's true," she agreed, averting her eyes.

"Oh. Right. Okay." Adachi sighed. Stretching himself out, he rolled over on to his back, and stared up at the ceiling. "Hey," he muttered, "that's not so bad. Sure, I could get used to this."

**Chapter 28: Chapter Twenty Six - For Good**

**Author's Note: **Today I would like to recommend an amazing story, featuring both of our favorite Persona protagonists, Yu and Minako. It's called **Fake Me**, by **ReachingOutFES**, and I've saved it for a rainy day because it's actually one that I'm in the process of reading right now! I'm…kind of addicted to it, actually, and you will be too, so set aside some time to read through the whole thing – it's worth it!

That said I have run out of new authors to recommend, which is a shame, because I know that some of you reading this probably have amazing stories of your own. Please do take the time to review, so that I can be sure to see you and to showcase your talent!

**Chapter Twenty Six: For Good**

At two o'clock, the entire team met back up at Junes, exactly as planned. Chie was the last to arrive, and Yu watched Naoto stroll over to her and whisper something in her ear. Chie's eyes widened, but she nodded, shrugged, and took a seat at the table next to Naoto.

"So?" asked Yu, careful not to meet Chie's eyes. "Rise, Teddie? What did you find out?"

"Uh…that's kind of hard to say," muttered Kanji, biting his lip. "Not…not really sure."

"All of the places that you guys created in your minds," clarified Teddie, "are still there! It's just like before, only, they're all pretty, now! Yuki-chan's castle's all sparkly, and Rise-chan's club looks like somebody gave it a renovation! It's got new carpets, and new ceilings, and…"

"Wait," interrupted Yosuke. "What about the bath house? 'Cause no offense, Kanji, but I don't think there's any way to make that place 'pretty.'"

Kanji went bright red. "Uh, we didn't go to the bath," he mumbled. "Figured we'd seen enough…wasn't important."

"But…this makes very little sense," insisted Naoto. "Those parts of us, the parts we overcame…they have returned, even after the cleansing of the TV world. Why? What could possibly be the purpose of those places, now?" She frowned, glanced at Yu, and added quietly, "there's something else, as well. Something else that doesn't seem quite right. I wonder if-!"

"Oh, but that's not all," declared Rise, perhaps not even having heard Naoto's last remark. "Listen to this; pretty much the whole time we were in there, I was getting this weird feeling, like maybe we weren't alone. I had my persona look around a little, but she kept getting stuck. It was like something was blocking her sight. Actually, it…it kinda felt like there was someone else scanning the area, and whenever I tried to do a search, that other power sort of got in the way. I know that doesn't sound like it makes a lot of sense, but…I don't like this, senpai. I don't like it at all."

"No way," muttered Yosuke. "Are you saying there's something inside the TV now that's strong enough to be scanning us? Aw, man…and here I thought only you and Teddie could do that. The only shadow we ever met that could figure out what made us tick was, uh, yours, Rise! This is really bad!"

Team members began murmuring to each other, looking frightened, disappointed, and uncertain as they tossed around the idea of another power being able to scan and target them. Naoto, however, remained silent and contemplative, staring hard at the table top, as though totally lost in thought.

"Naoto," asked Yu, doing his best to cut through the rising tide of worried mumbles. "You were saying something before, about something not seeming right. What is it? What's bothering you?"

Naoto nodded. "Ah, well…"

"Hey!" shouted Kanji. "Come on guys, shut up for a second. Naoto's got something to say."

Naoto shot Kanji a quick look consisting half of surprise and half of gratitude. Then, she cleared her throat.

"As I'm sure you all remember quite vividly," she explained, "the last time that there was a disturbance in the TV world, it manifested itself on the other side…or rather, on our side in a series of murders and kidnapping cases. That is to say, the only reason that we once felt it necessary to combat the shadows within that world was for the sake of solving the case and ending the atrocities committed on our side."

"Right," agreed Yosuke. "Sure. So what?"

"My point," continued Naoto carefully, "is that although the TV World appears to be reverting back to it's previous form, a form which once boded ill for the human world, there is no reason whatsoever at this time to believe that our world is in any danger. There have been no murders. There have been no kidnappings. As far as Chie-senpai and I can determine, there have been no crimes, as of this moment, committed on our side in connection with the transformation of the other world. Yu-senpai informs us that Marie-chan protests a complete lack of involvement with the TV world, and thus the goddess Izanami is unconnected with the incidents that we are in the process of investigating. Is it, therefore, truly necessary that we pursue this case? What exactly is it that we are fighting against? At this time, that seems unclear."

She sat back in her chair, while the rest of the table watched her, looking startled and nodding slowly to one another. Only Chie frowned.

"But, Naoto," she insisted. "What about what they told us at the police station? What about the prison break?"

Naoto shook her head. "I do not believe that the prisoner's escape has anything to do with the re-emergence of potential evil in the TV world," she murmured.

For a moment, Yu and Naoto's eyes met. Naoto nodded once.

"I am certain," she continued calmly, "that if there was anything for us to fear from the prison break in question, Yu-senpai would have made that clear to us from the beginning. His silence on the subject is sufficient to convince me that the evil in question does not come from that quarter."

_Thank you, _thought Yu desperately._ Thank you for trusting me._

"Huh?" asked Chie, looking confused. "But…how could Yu tell you about the prison break? We only found out about it a few hours ago, and you told me just now not to tell anyone until…oh! But…no, that can't be right."

"Chie," said Yu quickly, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry everyone, but there's something I have to tell you all, and I'd like you to wait until I'm finished before you react. All right?"

"I don't understand," said Yukiko. "What prison break? What are you all talking about?"

Yu took a deep breath. Then, he told them.

When he'd finished explaining about meeting Adachi in the Velvet Room, and about Margaret and Igor's predictions about Adachi's powers, the rest of the team sat very still and totally silent for a long moment. Then, the assembly erupted into chaos.

"Hell no!" shouted Kanji, slamming one hand on the table. "Wait, are you fucking kidding me? We're supposed to work with this guy? That's insane, man…"

"He tried to kill us," said Rise. "I mean…what part of 'he tried to kill us' is hard to understand? If he did it once, he'll do it again, right? How could we ever work with him?"

"Isn't it dangerous to let him out of prison?" asked Yukiko, concerned. "It's not that I don't trust your friends, Yu-kun, it's just that…it seems unwise. Ten years ago, people died. Why would things be any different now?"

Yu did not have a reasonable answer to that question, although he tried not to let that be apparent on his face. "Margaret and Igor are positive," he reminded them, "that we can't defeat this thing without his help. They said it was too big for us to handle alone. I don't want to risk any of you getting hurt again. It's not worth it. It's best to follow their instructions. I'm sure that if anyone can get us out of this alive, then they can."

"Um, but…Adachi-baby's a murderer," Teddie told him. "If anybody's gonna hurt us, it's probably him, right?"

Naoto and Chie were chatting to each other in hushed voices, apparently oblivious to the conversation going on around them. Yosuke, sitting across from Naoto, was still stonily silent. Yu watched him for a moment, not sure exactly what he was hoping for, but praying that Yosuke would manage to keep it together. He half expected Yosuke to stand up and to storm out, or to start shouting incoherently about what horrible things they should have done to Adachi when they had the chance.

_I know it's not fair, partner, _he thought. _There's nothing I can do about it. This is bigger than us, and this is bigger than him. I need you to understand that._

Everyone, it seemed, was now looking at Yosuke. A tense hush fell once more over the team, as everyone watched and waited to see what he'd do. Yosuke, on the other hand, seemed oblivious to their scrutiny. Instead, he stared straight ahead of him, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists hard against the tabletop.

Then, after a long moment, he relaxed, and let out a quick, decisive breath.

"Naoto's right," he said, nodding. "As of right now, it looks like nothing's going on, on our side at least. We've gotta focus on figuring out who it is that's got control of the TV world, and what he or she plans to do with it. Even if it doesn't look, right now, like this is bad news for the human world, we still can't be sure. We need to stay on top of this, and that means our first priority has to try finding out what this new TV world is gonna mean for us, and our families. We can worry about those places we made, and about the shadows later. We don't even really understand the big picture, yet."

"But, Yosuke," murmured Chie. "What about Adachi?"

Yosuke shrugged, although there was something almost violent about the gesture. "What about him? He's not our problem." He turned and looked at Yu. "There's a reason this guy's our leader. If we're expecting him to put his life on the line for us, then we've gotta trust him. If he says Adachi's not the one pulling this crap…then that's just the way it is. I believe him. Anybody have a problem with that?"

"N-no, of course not," agreed Chie quickly. "I believe him too! I just…we all thought that-!"

"Okay," interrupted Yosuke. "Cool. That's that, then. So, what's our next step?"

As the rest of the team began throwing ideas back and forth as to ways that they might start determining the root of the TV world problem, Yosuke excused himself and wandered back into the Junes electronics department. Yu followed, and soon found Yosuke standing in front of the new TV that they'd so recently used to get back to the other side.

"Sorry," muttered Yosuke, without turning around. "I just needed a minute. I'll be back soon. Really."

"Yeah," agreed Yu. "Um…listen, Yosuke, I did this wrong. I really messed this up, actually. I should have told you first, days ago, before we'd even gone into the TV world. I'm really sorry. I owe you better than this."

"Nah." Yosuke shook his head. "It's cool. I get why you did it. Hey, I probably wouldn't have told me either." Turning around, he attempted a smile, although he looked suddenly way more tired than he had when he'd been making that inspiring speech to the rest of the investigation team. "I meant what I said, anyway. I trust you. If this is how you want it done, then we'll do it your way. I'm not gonna be that one guy who loses his cool and makes it harder for everybody. You can count on that."

_I should have known I could count on you, _thought Yu. _That's one more that I owe you._

"Man, though," sighed Yosuke. "I thought this shit was over. I really…really wanted it to be over. How the hell am I supposed to move on if the past keeps getting dredged up and slapped in my face like this?"

Yu reached out and gave Yosuke a comforting squeeze on the shoulder. For once, Yosuke didn't do the manly thing and shake the contact off.

"We'll end it this time," Yu assured his friend. "This time, for good."

"I'm holding you too that," retorted Yosuke.

"

**Chapter 29: Chapter Twenty Seven: Delinquency**

**Author's Note: **Hey guys! Sorry, long author's note today, because I have a bunch of things to recommend:

First of all, I really recommend that you all take a look at **Persona 3: Renegade Legends**, by **steel0face6**. It is a very original and fascinating take on the persona legend, with brand new characters that will grab you in the first few chapters.

I'm also gonna do a little self-plugging, here (sorry!). I am currently working on a collaboration story with the amazing and brilliant **der kapitan.** The story is called **Unbound**, and focuses on the relationship between Junpei and Minako, a year or so after FES. I'd really appreciate it if you could go and check it out. I'm super excited about this story, and we'll have chapter two up very soon!

Also, I recently updated **Daydreams** with a new **Dreamgirl** one-shot, if you're interested in looking at that.

Wow, that's definitely enough out of me. Oh, wait, no, one more thing:

I'm still deciding as to exactly which pairings I'll be featuring in this story. I don't make any promises, but I would like to know: what are your favorite Persona 4 pairings? Note: Yu x Chie is a done deal, so I won't be changing that.

Okay…I'm honestly done, now. Story time.

**Chapter Twenty Seven: Delinquency**

Dojima had just stood up from his desk to stretch a little when he saw Chie come back from her two o'clock lunch break. For some reason, Naoto was with her again, and they both made straight for the desk that Chie, Dojima, and Takahashi were now somewhat unsuccessfully sharing.

"Sorry!" announced Chie, jogging the last few steps to the desk and giving Dojima a sheepish look. "I know I'm a little late, but…um, I'll make it up to you? I brought steak skewers for everybody!"

She held out a take-away box that had "Souzai Daigaku" printed on the top. Takahashi gave it a disinterested glance, but just looking at the box made Dojima's stomach start growling audibly. He hadn't eaten since he'd gotten in to work that morning, and as far as he remembered, he'd skipped breakfast as well. His insides were preparing to revolt if he didn't do something about them, fast. "Thanks," he mumbled, as he bit into some of the toughest, most challenging-to-chew meat in Inaba. It was exactly what he needed.

"Pardon me, Dojima-san, Takahashi-san," murmured Naoto, while Chie helped herself to another skewer. "I'm aware that I may be interrupting at an inconvenient time, but Detective Satonaka...forgive me, Detective Narukami mentioned that you and she will be working together on the Adachi escape investigation. If it's not too presumptuous of me, it would be my pleasure to offer my services as well. You will understand, of course, that both Detective Narukami and I have…what would be considered a personal stake in his arrest."

Takahashi raised an eyebrow. "Personal, huh? Isn't that against the rules? Not supposed to mix work and your personal life. Right, Dojima-san?"

Dojima frowned at Takahashi, whom he was reasonably certain had no personal life to speak of. "It's not that simple," he muttered. "Everybody in a small town like this had some personal connection to the prisoner. Anyway, I…" He stopped suddenly, remembering his chief's words to him about staying in the background and assisting rather than dictating. It rankled, and he scowled at no one in particular, but there was nothing for it. This wasn't his case to take point on, and it wasn't his decision to make.

"Narukami," he barked at Chie. "You're in charge here. You decide."

Chie looked momentarily alarmed "Me? Uh, but I'm pretty sure Takahashi-san is the senior detective, sir…"

Takahashi shrugged as he bit into a steak skewer.

"Um…well, okay." Chie glanced at Naoto. "Then, if it's it up to me…of course, Naoto-kun, we'd love to have some help. The more the merrier, huh? Four heads are better than…three?"

With that decided, Naoto took a few minutes to locate a chair, and then sat at the one available corner of the overcrowded desk while Takahashi filled her in on the details thus far.

"They found him missing from his cell on the morning of October 5th," he informed her, rifling through his notes to check the dates. "The guard came by, as usual, to bring him breakfast, which apparently doesn't usually happen and was some kind of special treat for good behavior. When the food didn't' get picked up immediately, the guard went in for a closer look, and found the cell totally empty. There was no sign of struggle, of forced exit, or anything. The prisoner apparently just vanished into thin air."

Naoto and Chie exchanged a knowing look, which immediately got Dojima's full attention.

"What?" he demanded.

Chie blinked at him. "What do you mean, 'what?'" She asked. "Uh, sir."

"What," clarified Dojima, "has gotten into you two? You're acting weird. If there's something that you know, and you're not telling me…" He leveled his best menacing glare at the two girls. Chie visibly flinched, although Naoto didn't even blink. Takahashi rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Come on, Dojima-san, give it a rest," he muttered. "We are not in the middle of an interrogation. Don't get carried away."

For some reason, Dojima found himself getting embarrassed. He turned the glare on Takahashi instead.

"Of course," interrupted Naoto quietly, "if I do encounter any useful information, I will bring it straight to three of you, Dojima-san. Please, let your mind be at ease on that score. I have no client in this case, and am pursuing it solely for my own satisfaction and in hopes of assisting old friends. There is nothing at all to be concerned about in that respect."

Dojima frowned. "That's not exactly what I meant," he began, but Naoto didn't appear to be listening.

"What worries me," she continued, "are the reasons for his escape. Why, after having spent ten years as such a reportedly model prisoner, would Adachi-san choose to leave the prison now?"

"Uh…freedom, I guess," muttered Takahashi. "I mean…it can't be that much fun, living the way he's been living. Anyone would probably want to get out."

"Yes," agreed Naoto patiently. "But what puzzles me is, why now?" She sighed. "Perhaps I am not being sufficiently clear. You are all familiar, of course, with the reasons for Adachi-san's initial arrest. He was accused and ultimately convicted of two counts of murder, and multiple counts of being an accessory to kidnappings. To all of these charges, he confessed immediately. He has already proven himself to be a murderer and a hardened criminal, willing to stop at nothing to achieve his ends. I wonder if his escape is not connected to some greater plan, perhaps to commit a further murder, or to seek vengeance in some way for his sentence and arrest ten years ago."

"But, hang on," began Chie. "Naoto, I thought you said that-!"

Naoto shot Chie a warning look, and Chie instantly fell silent.

"Don't worry," Takahashi assured them. "Obviously we've already considered that angle."

Naoto nodded. "I am sure you have," she agreed. "With that in mind, I think it would be best if the four of us, and perhaps the entire department kept a very careful eye on any mysterious or unexplained incidents that have lately occurred or will soon occur in the Inaba area. We may have little luck tracing Adachi himself. His motives are unclear, and so are his means of escape. It may be his actions and the havoc that he may wreak on our town that lead us more effectively to his current whereabouts."

Suddenly, Naoto turned her attention to Dojima, and gave him a long, hard, serious look.

"As we know, perhaps better than anyone else, Adachi-san is capable of things which may seem impossible. It would be wise for us to investigate any incident, no matter how small and no matter how impossible it may seem that Adachi-san had any involvement in the matter. Until we are sure of his intentions, we must exercise the most extreme caution."

"Yeah," agreed Dojima, nodding slowly. "Yeah…you're right."

"Uh…wait, what are you guys talking about?" asked Takahashi, glancing back and forth between Dojima and Naoto. "What do you mean he's 'capable of things which may seem impossible?' What am I missing, here?"

_Everything, _thought Dojima. _The stuff you don't know about this case would fill a library. They didn't put some of the weirdest stuff about those kidnappings in the official report, probably because no one would believe it just by reading it. You had to be there._

"Anyway," he told Naoto holding out a hand for her to shake, and being surprised, as he often was, by how small and feminine the Detective Prince's hand felt, "we're glad to have you on board."

Naoto bowed slightly. "I'm honored by the opportunity," she said.

Was it Dojima's imagination, or did Takahashi look a little pissed off?

**Meanwhile, on the streets of the shopping district…**

Nanako was running so hard that it hurt. She could feel her chest aching and her lungs screaming for air as she pounded down the pavement towards Yasogami High.

There was going to be trouble, no matter what she did. She had been so caught up in battling shadows in the TV world that she'd already missed her first class, and was getting dangerously close to being late for her second period.

There were only two things on her mind, other than the absolute panic of an accidental delinquent. First and foremost was the image of Adachi's face, as she'd promised both him and Margaret that she and her persona, Tatsu-ta-hime, would be back sometime this week to do what Margaret had called "proceed down the path of realization, to develop the true nature of your powers." There was something special about her, Nanako h had realized, some amazing, powerful thing that only she and her persona could do…and maybe, just maybe, she could use that new power she'd discovered to save Big Bro from whatever evil he was preparing to face. After all, she had saved Adachi. She'd even, to some extent, saved herself. Igor and Margaret had referred to her as a "key," and she wanted desperately to be the sort of key that could unlock the answer as to how to save her beloved cousin and his friends. She kept thinking about that, kept believing it, and every time she told herself that it was true, she felt a little rush of delighted, terrified adrenaline shoot through her veins.

There was, however, a serious problem.

_Dad is going to kill me! _screamed the back of Nanako's mind as she rushed through the front doors of the school. _He is going to just kill me. I'm dead. I am going to die…_

After all, she knew, when any student was an hour late for school, the very first thing that the teachers did was inform the guidance counselor, who was responsible for calling home and checking in with the parents to make sure that the student's family was aware of his or her absence.

_And Dad has no idea that I am not at school, _she reminded herself. _He has no idea where I've been all morning. I've never gotten a call home, before. I don't' know what he's going to think. I don't know what I am going to tell him!_

Throwing open the door to her classroom, she found a seat, slid into it, and had her books out on her desk just in time to be ready as the teacher entered the room.

_What, _she asked herself desperately, _am I going to do?_

**Chapter 30: Chapter Twenty Eight: Commitments**

**Author's Note: **Can't concentrate on my work, so I wrote another chapter…

Maybe now I can focus? Here's hoping.

**Chapter Twenty Eight – Commitments**

Dinner that night at the Dojima residence included Yu, Dojima, Nanako, Chie, and, as a somewhat last-minute addition, Naoto, who had only made a token polite refusal when Dojima had invited her along. Nanako had stopped on her way home to buy sushi from Junes, and although the meal really did look delicious, everyone at the table seemed to be lost in their own deep and troubling thoughts.

"Um, so, Nanako-chan," began Chie hesitantly, when it looked as though no one else was eager to begin a conversation. "Did you have fun at school today?"

Nanako jumped halfway out of her seat, looking startled, before settling back down and giving Chie a nervous little smile. "Y-yes, thank you! We're studying, um, foreign fairytales in literature class, so that was…really nice."

Yu raised an eyebrow at her across the table, but Nanako apparently didn't notice him. Instead, she suddenly began focusing very, very hard on her halibut.

"Ah," murmured Naoto, nodding enthusiastically. "I have always been particularly fond of the American 'Cinderella,' which turns the incident of the lost slipper into something of a mystery that the Prince himself must solve."

"Um, yes," agreed Nanako. "He's a better character in the American story, I think. In the Japanese one, he's just kind of boring…like most princes are boring."

For some reason, that got a chuckle out of Dojima. "I guess I should be happy," he muttered. "Most girls your age would be spending the majority of their time looking for a prince."

Nanako wrinkled her nose. "Not interested," she informed him. Again, Dojima laughed. As the laughter died away, however, he sighed, frowned, and shook his head.

"I guess you've heard about Adachi's escape from prison," he said, setting his fork down and rubbing his forehead with two fingers. "I'm sure everyone was talking about it at school, today."'

"Um…yes," mumbled Nanako. "I heard."

"Right." Dojima's face hardened into sterner lines. "Listen, Nanako, I know that you're a teenager, and that there's a certain amount of freedom that kids your age expect, but…until we have some idea, at least, of where Adachi's hiding out, I need you to come straight home after school. No hanging around with friends, no clubs, and no going out after dark. Is that clear?"

Nanako's eyes widened. "But, Dad," she began. "That's not-!"

Dojima raised a hand to forestall her protests. "I know it's not fair," he insisted. "I'm not saying it is. But it's what I need from you. I won't' be able to sleep at night or to do my job unless I know that you're safe. It can't be any other way. I need to know that I can count on you to do this for me. Can I?"

Nanako subsided into deflated silence for a moment. "Yes, Daddy," she murmured eventually. "Of course." Yu was impressed by the total lack of resentment in her voice. Of course, he was sure that she knew Dojima was only asking her to be good for her own sake and safety, but still…most kids would have been more annoyed. Nanako just looked a bit sad.

"Your job?" asked Yu. "But…uncle Dojima, I thought that you'd be finished at the station by the end of this week."

Dojima grinned at Chie. "Well," he said, "Dunno, really. The situation's changed…I think."

Yu looked at Chie. Chie gave him a sheepish sort of smile. "I didn't feel comfortable working on the investigation all alone," she informed him, "seeing as it's my first assignment, and all."

Suddenly, Yu wanted to grab Chie and kiss her right there at the table. She must have seen the gratitude in his eyes, because she flushed and began forking sushi into her mouth at an alarming rate.

"With all due respect, Dojima-san," interjected Naoto, "I do not believe that Nanako has anything to fear. It seems unlikely that Adachi-san would have any designs on Nanako's life or health."

Dojima glowered at her. "He did before," he muttered. "Why not this time? Anyway, aren't you the one who said that he might have broken out just to get revenge?"

Yu watched as Nanako sunk silently even lower into her chair.

Later that night, after Dojima and Nanako had gone to bed, Yu, Chie, and Naoto sat around the table in front of empty plates.

"I don't get it," Chie was saying, sounding frustrated. "First you tell all of us that you don't' think Adachi's got anything to do with all this new TV world stuff…and then you go and announce to Dojima-san and Takahashi-san that he might be plotting revenge? What was that all about, huh?"

Naoto sighed. "My opinion," she insisted, "remains unchanged. No, I do not believe Adachi-san to be responsible for the disturbance within the TV world. I simply wished for the Inaba police department to stay abreast of any new or strange developments amongst the residents. Police reports might be our best source of information as to what effect the changed status of the TV world is having on the humans in our world. It is best that we take care to inform ourselves of any unexpected happenings in the Inaba area. It is fortunate that the force is already on the alert, due to Adachi's escape. I only sought to encourage them to take extra care.

"Oh. Um. Well, that makes sense." Chie looked slightly flustered. "Sorry. Guess I should have figured that out for myself…you're a good actor, Naoto-kun!"

"Hardly," murmured Naoto dismissively. "You are perhaps too credulous…"

"You guys worked hard today," began Yu. "Thanks for everything, Naoto, and Chie. I think we're really off to a good start, this time, and we know a lot more now than we did the first time around. This is going to be much easier for us than it was ten years ago. I'm sure that-!"

Someone coughed behind Yu, and he turned around to see Nanako standing on the stairs.

"Um, Big Bro?" she asked "Are you busy right now?"

Yu shook his head. "No. Not really. Can I help you with something?"

Nanako nodded slowly. "There's…something I want to ask you," she said. "Can you come upstairs for a minute?"

"Go ahead," said Chie, standing up. "We've got the dishes. No problem."

"Yes, take your time," agreed Naoto. "We have, I fear, been monopolizing you since your arrival. Surely Nanako-chan wishes to spend some time with her cousin as well."

Obediently, Yu followed Nanako upstairs to her bedroom. There was a chair next to her writing desk, and he sat down in it as she closed the door behind them. Then she stood there for a moment, just watching him. Eventually, Yu felt he had to break the uncomfortable silence.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "You look upset. Are you worried about Adachi's escape? We probably shouldn't have brought it up at the table…"

Nanako shook her head. "It's not that," she mumbled. "Not exactly. Um…"

Again, there was a moment of silence. Then, Nanako nodded once, more to herself than to her cousin.

"Do you think Dad's right?" she asked. "Do you think Adachi-san's going to want to hurt people, and to 'get revenge' for what happened? Do you think that's what he escaped to do?"

Nanako looked genuinely very worried, and Yu gave her what he hoped was his most comforting, reassuring smile.

"No," he said honestly. "I don't think so."

"Why not?" asked Nanako quickly. "Why don't you? Everyone else thinks so. Even Dad."

Yu frowned. "Well," he admitted, "I think I know him a little better than most people. It wouldn't make sense for him to want revenge, now. He's not that kind of a guy. He'd do it, maybe, if he thought that it would help him out somehow. It wouldn't, though. It wouldn't get him out of prison, and I don't think it would make him feel very good. Hey never had much of a conscience, but…I think maybe he had fun with us, ten years ago. I think that in his own weird, twisted way, you and uncle Dojima and I were the part of his life that he didn't hate. It's not us he's after. It's not you, so there's nothing you have to be scared of."

On an impulse, he stood up and kissed Nanako on the top of the head, which took a little more care and planning, now that she was only a few inches shorter than he was. As he pulled away, Nanako made a face.

"I'm not scared," she informed him belligerently. "I'm not a little kid anymore."

"Well," countered Yu, "maybe not, but you're still your Dad's little girl. Do him a favor and do what he asks, okay?"

Nanako frowned. "But I can't," she murmured. "I want to, I really do…but I made a promise."

The idea of a "promise" stirred up something in the back of Yu's mind, and he was about to ask her just whom she'd made the promise to when there was a knock on Nanako's bedroom door.

"Yu-kun? Nanako-chan?" called Chie. "I'm sorry! I don't want to interrupt, but…um, Yu, I think we're out of dish soap. Do you know if there's some anywhere else in the house?"

"I don't think we-!" began Yu, but Nanako hurried over to the door and pulled it open.

"It's under the sink, I hope," she said, following Chie back downstairs. "I'll go look…if we're out, I think Junes is still open."

"Oh," replied Chie, "but, remember, your dad says you shouldn't go out after dark. Maybe Naoto-kun wouldn't mind picking some up for us? Oh, but what are husbands and big cousins for, right? We should just ask Yu to do it!"

As the sounds of the girls' voices retreated down the stairs, Yu continued to sit in the chair, trying to figure out what was bothering him so much about what Nanako had said. _It's not actually what she said,_he realized. _It's the way she said it. She didn't look like she was scared about Adachi at all. She just looked sort of worried, like there was something on her mind._

"Yu-kun!" called Chie. "Hey, will you run an errand for us?"

Yu stood up. "Coming," he shouted, leaving the room.

**Chapter 31: Chapter Twenty Nine: Winners and Losers**

**Author's Note: **The card game played in this chapter isn't real. I have never heard of any tarot card game that is actually played this way. I made this one up for my own nefarious purposes. Just thought I'd get that out of the way before anyone decides to call me on it!

It doesn't look as though I'll be updating at all tomorrow, so here's an extra short couple of scenes to make it up to you.

**Chapter Twenty Nine: Winners and Losers**

That night, long after Nanako had left, Adachi again had nowhere to go. Alarmed by the surges of old, hazily-remembered feelings that were beginning to take shape again in his soul, he wandered aimlessly around the TV world, contemplating the idea of trying his newly minted powers out on a few shadows. Whenever they got too close, however, or whenever he heard one of them coming around the corner towards him, he could feel the Other Adachi quivering with anticipation and excitement inside him, urging him unyieldingly to be a man and destroy any miserable creatures that were dumb enough to piss him off or get in his way. The desire for blood and action was like a weird sort of hunger that motivated and sickened him at the same time. In disappointed desperation, he ultimately stumbled back into the Velvet Room and shut himself in.

"Ah," intoned Igor, glancing up at the sound of the door slamming behind Adachi. "I see that you have chosen to return to us. Welcome to the Velvet Room."

"Welcome yourself," snarled Adachi. The magic of the morning's encounter with his shadow, and subsequently with his new persona was beginning to wear off. In that moment, he had been an almost a hero, but now that Nanako had left and he was back in some semblance of sensible reality, he was a hunted man, again, with nothing to look forward to and no way out of the shithole he'd dug for himself.

"Do you like games of chance?" asked Igor. Surprised, Adachi glanced up at him to find that Igor had spread a number of his precious tarot cards out on the table in front of him, face down and lined up in rows of four or five.

"Nah," muttered Adachi. "Not really. My luck's no good." He shook his head. "Skill's what matters, right? I like games that you have to figure out how to win."

"Splendid," murmured Igor. As Adachi watched, the master of the Velvet Room waved both hands over the cards. Instantly, they flung themselves into a pile, shuffled themselves expertly, and then began dealing themselves out on to either side of the table. Soon, there were two equally sized stacks of cards. Igor selected the one nearest to him, and picked it up, fanning it out and examining it closely.

"These are yours," he informed Adachi, nodding in the direction of the second pile. Uncertain of exactly why he did it, Adachi picked up the pile Igor had indicated.

Looking at the cards in his hand, he found that they were, as he had suspected, each printed with a different one of the twenty one major tarot arcana. Adachi had never spent much time studying that sort of thing, since fortune telling and the concept of a predestinate future didn't really fit his idea of the way the world was supposed to work. He barely recognized any of the symbols.

"Games of skill…" murmured Igor thoughtfully. He paused for a moment, pursed his lips, and then carefully laid one card face-up on the table between them. There was a half-moon imprinted on it, accompanied by the numeral XVIII.

"It is your turn," Igor informed Adachi.

"Huh?" Adachi was confused. "What are we even playing?"

Igor didn't say anything to that. Instead, he kept looking expectantly at Adachi out of those strange, bulging eyes.

Adachi took a deep breath. _Okay, _he thought. _Sure, why not. I'll bite. XVIII…what is that, eighteen? _Glancing down at his hand, he found that he had a card that displayed the image of a blazing sun, with the numeral XIX printed below it. He placed that card on top of the moon. _Nineteen's higher than eighteen,_ he thought. _That has to count for something…_

"Very good." Igor looked distinctly pleased. "The moon must always give way to the sun, just as the answer to every shrouded mystery must, in time, be revealed. "

Again, he laid a card down. This time, it was a very familiar image, the image of a shadowy man hanging upside down, in the same way that the victims of the TV world were found hanging upside down after they reappeared on the human side. The number of the card was XII.

Adachi swallowed hard. After a moment's consideration, he selected a card from his own hand, and placed it down on top of the hanging man. It had a picture of a grinning skull on it, and the number XIII.

"I know this one," said Adachi, before Igor had a chance to interject. "This one's death, right? Death's gotta be the trump card. It beats everything. Everybody eventually kicks the bucket."

Igor nodded. "Death," he agreed, "will come to all of us in time. Death is only truly the master, however, of those that accept their fate passively, resigned to the ultimate destruction…as does the Hanged Man. Though death can never be avoided, it may be overcome, by those that strive to be the master of their own destiny."

Again, Igor placed a card on the table, and this time, and Adachi leaned over eagerly to see what it was. After two consecutive wins, he decided that he was starting to get the hang of this.

The card on the table had four small black images, each printed on a different block of color. Frustrated, Adachi sat for a moment, trying to figure out what that one this one could possibly mean. The picture wasn't giving him any immediate clues.

"Take your time," murmured Igor. "If it is of any assistance…the card is of the Temperance arcana."

That only pissed Adachi off more. He wasn't interested in being given extra help or any kind of concession by some long-nosed freak. Impulsively, he grabbed the first card he saw in his hand and smacked it down on top of Igor's. The card had a pair of human faces on it, overshadowed by the large, grotesque head of some menacing black creature.

Igor looked slightly impressed.

"Ah," he muttered. "I see. The Devil arcana. True, even the forces of patience, harmony, and temperance can be dispelled and shattered by the wickedness of the human heart."

"Heh." Adachi grinned at Igor. "Probably should have mentioned it at the beginning…but I'm pretty good at games. I'm no slouch in the intellectual department. There's a reason I decided to become a detective…and that I got away with messing around in Inaba for so damn long. So, what are we playing to? Three out of five? If that's the case, I guess it's my win, huh?"

Igor gently shook his head. Silently, he drew one more card out of his hand, and slid it across the table, until it was lying face down on top of the small pile that had begun collecting between the players. Adachi turned it over, only to find himself staring at the same card that Igor had first shown him on that night in prison when he'd come to the Velvet Room in the midst of fitful dreams. The card displayed the picture of a man with a bundled carried on a stick over his shoulder, and the numeral 0 printed below him."

"What the hell's this?" asked Adachi, scowling at the card? "0? That's even less than one, that can't beat anything. It's a worthless play. Game over, old man."

"Quite the contrary," returned Igor. "The number 0 is but empty. Rather than worthless, it has infinite potential. It remains to be seen whether the power of the Devil can overcome that of the Fool, or whether the Fool shall, in the end, harness the power required to complete its journey, fulfill it's true purpose and triumph over the influence of greed and fear. The future, in that respect, remains impossible to judge at this time…"

Again, Igor waved his hands, and the cards returned to the deck. He stowed them somewhere underneath the table, and continued watching Adachi curiously.

Adachi shook his head. "Oh, I get it," he muttered. "Real subtle, huh? Jeez. I see what you're trying to pull, here."

Igor smiled. "Good," he said. Then he stood up, walked past Adachi, and left the Velvet Room. Adachi stared after him, wondering just exactly where Igor went when he wasn't stuffed into his chair making meaningless, confusing statements about life, the universe, and the pathways of the future. _And where the hell's Margaret? _wondered Adachi.

**Meanwhile, at the Dojima residence…**

After everyone else had theoretically gone to sleep, Dojima lay back on his bed and switched on the television. The clock in the corner of the screen informed him that it was currently 11:56 PM, and the nightly news anchor was just saying goodnight and getting ready to sign off the air. Carefully and quietly, Dojima reached under the bed and pulled out a can of beer, which he popped open and took a long swig from as the news program ended. It looked as though he'd missed all of this evening's programming, so Dojima hit the power button on the remote to turn the TV off again.

It was only a moment or so after he'd turned off the TV that the screen began to crackle, and the familiar face of Chisato Dojima appeared out of the white noise. With the beer can halfway to his lips, Dojima paused, and stared hungrily at the screen, watching as his wife smiled and held out both of her hands to him, throwing back her head and laughing in the way that she'd laughed before, when she, Dojima, and Nanako had used to picnic together at Samegawa.

"Chisato," he mumbled, scooting himself closer to the screen to drink in her image with his eyes.

He wasn't sure how long he lay there, just watching her smiling at him. It didn't matter. He'd have done it forever, if only he could.

**Chapter 32: Chapter Thirty: Zoning Out**

**Author's Note: **So, we haven't seen much of Kanji yet in this story, right? Well, fear not, because a treat for Kanji fans is coming up in a couple of chapters! (I am also a big Kanji fan.)

First, though, we have some other business to wrap up.

Again, without the Adachi social link, this chapter is going to be a bit confusing, so I do suggest you head over to youtube and check it out if you haven't already.

Oh, hey, **Gin Nanashi** recently published a new story, called **A** N**ight to Die For!** I actually haven't read it yet, but everything she writes is amazing, so I'm going to go and read it right now. Let's compare notes after you read it, too!

**Chapter Thirty: Zoning Out**

Unexpectedly, Chie bounced out of bed early the next morning, before her alarm went off. Yu watched, puzzled, as she came back from the shower, toweling off her hair and kicking the laundry around until she found something clean to wear.

"What's going on?" he asked. "Did uncle Dojima ask you to come in early, today?"

Chie shook her head. "Nope! Although, I probably shouldn't be late again today, so I'm going to the Amagi Inn early, before it opens."

Yu raised an eyebrow.

"I want to see Yukiko," Chie clarified. "You know, to make sure she's okay, and everything. I mean…a lot of stuff's been going on lately, so…"

For some reason, Chie suddenly looked a bit uncomfortable. Yu watched her for a moment, until she sighed, and shook her head.

"Well….it's kind like this," she explained, sitting back down on the bed. "The TV world is all messed up, and Adachi's running around free, again…just like last time, right? Last time this happened, ten years ago, Yukiko was one of the first people to get kidnapped! I…I'm not just gonna wait around and see what happens. Maybe things are gonna be different, now, and maybe they aren't, but… she's not getting kidnapped again. She's not getting hurt again. I'm not gonna let anything happen to her." Chie shrugged. "I didn't do such a good job of that the first time. This time, I won't screw up. I'll keep her safe, no matter what."

That determined light in Chie's eyes had always charmed Yu, but something about what she'd just said bothered him. It took a moment to figure out exactly what that was.

"You said 'Adachi's running around free again,'" he realized. "I thought we all agreed that he probably doesn't have anything to do with this?"

Chie looked away from him. "Yeah," she mumbled. "That's true, we did. It's just…Yukiko's young and pretty, just like his two victims from the first case. It'd make sense, if…well, if something happened. I'm just being careful, that's all…"

Chie trailed off, and the uncertain look on her face told Yu everything he needed to know. Something lumpy and awful lodged itself in his heart, and he frowned. "You're saying you don't trust me," he accused her.

Chie's eyes went wide. "That's not true!" she insisted. "I do trust you! I…I love you." She went slightly pink as she said it, the way she always did, but for once that didn't make Yu smile. "But, Yu…Yosuke told me about what happened ten years ago, when you went to visit Adachi alone after we found out he was the culprit. You promised us that you wouldn't go, but you went anyway! He's got some kind of a weird hold on you. You want to believe in him. It's…it's always been that way."

Chie fell silent again. Yu waited, but that seemed to be all she had to say.

"That was a long time ago," he reminded her. "Things are different, now."

"Are you sure?" asked Chie quietly. "Because things don't feel different. Actually, it's all starting to feel too much like the way it did before. I'll always be on your side, Yu, and I want you know that you can count on that forever, but…why didn't you tell us about Adachi in the first place?"

Yu wasn't sure what to say in response to that. He couldn't fault her for asking, but he wasn't sure how he'd manage to put her mind at ease. "You should go see Yukiko," he muttered instead. "Before it gets too late."

"Okay," agreed Chie, nodding slowly. "Yeah. You're right. Um…I'll see you later, then." Leaning in, she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, before grabbing her things and hurrying out the door and down the stairs. Yu listened to the sound of the door closing behind her, then laid back on the bed and closed his eyes.

_She's absolutely right, _he told himself. _I should have told them before. I should have told them all about Adachi, right at the beginning, when I first knew that he was going to be a part of all of this. I was just worried that they'd get angry, or that they'd get scared. I was worried that they'd refuse to help me if I…_

He paused, mid-thought, and shook his head, while the image of Adachi's sneering, taunting face rose up in the back of his mind. Absently he touched the place on his ear where Adachi's bullet had once grazed it, frowning to himself.

_No, that's not it, _he thought. _But still, Chie's wrong about one thing. I'm not still protecting him. There wouldn't be any reason for me to do that. Right?_

He remembered assuring Nanako the night before that Adachi wasn't out for revenge, and that she had nothing to fear. _But there's no reason for me to be so sure of that. I was wrong about him once, I could be wrong about him again. Besides, Margaret and Igor have their own agenda. I can't be completely certain that they're telling me the whole truth. That's just the nature of the Velvet Room. They never give everything away._

Rain began spattering against the bedroom window, startling Yu out of his reverie. He sighed and looked around for his umbrella. After all, he'd promised his wife that he'd spend today job hunting, and he certainly wasn't going to get back on Chie's good side if she came home to find that he'd spent the day speculating about Adachi and not looking for work.

**Meanwhile, across the hall…**

Dojima groaned in protest as his alarm began beeping insistently. Reaching out, he smacked it off with one hand, scowling at the time on the clock. The miserably intrusive beeping noise had cut through and interrupted a beautiful dream he'd been having, in which he'd been walking through the shopping district with Chisato, trying to add his favorite items to her shopping list while she playfully admonished him for not eating healthily enough. When the beeping sound had begun, she'd looked around, gasped, and announced that she'd be late to pick Nanako up from school. Dojima hadn't wanted her to leave. He would have been happy to stay there and let her chastise him for his eating habits forever.

"Jeez," he grumbled, throwing his legs over the end of the bed and forcing himself to his feet. As he made his way towards the shower, he wondered absently what would happen if he called in sick to work and just went back to sleep. Would he be able to find Chisato again, and pick up the dream where he'd left off?

Once he was out of the shower, however, he began operating on autopilot. He found some clothes made some coffee, got into the car, and eventually showed up outside the police station just in time. Unexpectedly, Chie was already seated at the desk when he walked in. She didn't look any happier than he felt.

"You don't look so good,' he muttered, taking a seat across from her. "Long night?"

"Rough morning," she sighed.

"Ah." Dojima shrugged, reached out, and gave her what he hoped was a fatherly little pat on the shoulder. "Lover's fight?"

"Um," mumbled Chie. "M-maybe something like that."

"Don't sweat it," Dojima assured her. "These things happen. You have to try not to argue, though. Life's short. Be nice to him while you've got him. Guess that goes for me too, huh?"

"Good morning," said Naoto, striding over towards them through the rows of desks. "I trust I'm not interrupting anything?"

"Hey," added Takahashi, jogging a little to keep up with her. "How did you all manage to beat me here?"

Takahashi and Chie got up to get coffee for everyone, while Naoto thanked Dojima for dinner the night before. By the time Takahashi and Chie had returned, and everyone was sufficiently caffeinated, most of the remnants of Dojima's dream had left him, and he felt more awake, and prepared for work.

"So far no news at all concerning the escaped prisoner's whereabouts, sir," said Takahashi.

Chi e sighed. "No leads from Inaba, either! Nobody seems to know where he is!"

"Unless," added Naoto, smiling dryly to herself, "you count the six phone calls we received yesterday from hysterical residents, insisting that they had seen him lurking suspiciously outside their places of business."

"And?" asked Chie eagerly. "Was he?"

Naoto shook her head. "I'm afraid not. In times of crisis, unfortunately, people tend to get…rather excited. The idea of an escaped convict appeals, somehow, to the romantic parts of their souls. They see whatever it is they wish to see."

Dojima frowned. "What we really need," he said, "is an idea of what sort of place he might actually use as a refuge. I don't think he had any friends in Inaba that he would turn to at a time like this."

"Except for you, sir," remarked Takahashi. Dojima gave him a stony look. Takahashi didn't seem to notice or care.

"Well, I think-!" began Chie. Before she could finish the thought, however, she was interrupted by the arrival of the chief, who stormed over to their desk with annoyance in his eyes.

"Hey, Dojima, Satonaka," he barked. "Have either of you two seen Fujioka today? He hasn't come in to work, and I can't reach him on his cell phone or his home phone. That kid's been out for three days now without calling in; I'm either starting to get worried or seriously pissed off."

"Fujioka?" asked Chie. "Um…oh, I know him. Wait, didn't he only join up with the police a few months ago?"

Dojima nodded. "Yeah," he agreed. "And three or four days after we hired him, his mom passed away and he was out for two weeks handling the funeral and the estate."

"Ah," murmured Naoto. "The loss of a parent can be very hard on a man of any age." She glanced down at the table for a moment, and Dojima recalled suddenly that Naoto had lost her own parents when she was only a little girl.

"Yeah," growled the chief, "but still. We gave him his leave when his mom died. Nobody grumbled about it. Now, we need him back at his desk, doing his damn job. Rookies these days…"

_Maybe if he didn't keep firing all the guys who have any experience, _thought Dojima bitterly, _he wouldn't be having this problem. Every time I look around this place, the faces are looking younger and younger. Some of them can't have been out of high school for that long. How does he expect to get anything done around here when half the guys on the force have never been on a real stakeout, or in a real gunfight? It's like Shirogane said…experience counts. Whether he likes it or not, he needs more guys like me who've been showing up to work on time for years._

"Well, anyway," muttered the chief. "If any of you see him, you bring him straight to me. Got that?"

"Sir!" agreed Chie, nodding smartly.

Still looking dissatisfied, the chief wandered back off to snap at someone else.

"Weird," remarked Takahashi. "Tachibana and Hayashi both called in sick yesterday, too. You think there's some kind of bug going around? I hope not. I really hate getting sick."

"Yeah," agreed Chie. "We are kind of undermanned. Oh, hey, it's a good thing you stepped in when you did, Naoto. Right?"

Naoto however, was frowning thoughtfully at the wall just behind Chie's head. Dojima tried to follow her gaze, but couldn't figure out what she was looking at. _Looks like she's just zoning out, _he decided.

"Hey," Shirogane," he asked. "You awake? Need some more coffee?"

Naoto blinked. "Ah…pardon? Oh, no, I'm fine. Thank you, sir."

**Chapter 33: Chapter Thirty One: Things Change**

**Author's Note: **Again, these two chapters go together, so they had to be posted together Now I have to go write a script for work…

**Chapter Thirty One: The More Things Change**

Adachi didn't know how long he'd been sitting on the floor of the Velvet Room after Igor left. He was bored out of his skull, and so when the Velvet Room door opened he stood up immediately, expecting to see Margaret. _Even dealing with that bitch has to be better than doing nothing, _he thought. _Assuming she's not gonna try and convince me to go back out there and save the world, again. I'm getting kinda sick of having that conversation…and every time she tries to 'persuade' me, I end up getting the shit kicked out of me…what's up with that?_

The person who entered the room, however, wasn't Margaret. Instead, Yu Narukami stepped quietly through the door, and closed it behind him.

"Crap," muttered Adachi. "This just never ends, does it? Give me a break…"

"Adachi-san," murmured Yu, affording him a chilly little nod.

"Yeah," sighed Adachi. "I figured you'd show up sooner or later."

Yu didn't say anything. He just stood there and gazed at Adachi with a strange, half-nostalgic look in his eye. Adachi could feel the hairs standing up on the back of his neck. After a moment, it started getting on his nerves.

"What do you want, anyway?" he asked. "I'm guessing you're not gonna take me back to prison."

"Why wouldn't I?" asked Yu, a little bit too quickly.

Adachi shrugged. "If that was the idea, then you'd have done it already. Why wait almost a week to come and drag me out? Nah, you're probably here to try that whole 'hero' argument on me again, right? You're gonna babble on about truth, justice, saving the world, and all that crap. Well, I've got news for you; you'll be wasting your time. Nothing's changed. Nobody's gonna talk me into risking my ass and going through that shit again, it's not gonna happen. I don't want anything to do with this, and I want even less to do with you."

He expected that to upset Yu, to get to him at least a little bit, but Yu didn't even flinch. "The feeling is mutual," he informed Adachi quietly.

"Oh yeah?" Adachi raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's different. Whatever happened to you 'believing in me?' What about my 'still being able to start over,' huh? Did I get that right? I'm pretty sure that's what you said, just before they hauled me off to prison."

"That was a long time ago," replied Yu.

The cold, disinterested look in Yu's eye made something twist, suddenly and horribly, in the pit of Adachi's stomach. He swallowed hard against an upswell of disappointment that he knew there was no point in feeling.

"Guess I was wrong about you after all," he said, hoping to cover his confusion. "Looks like you're all grown up now. Figured out how the world really works after all, did you? Well, good for you. I was wondering when you'd grow out of all that kiddie crap about friendship meaning something special. We were never anything special. Do you get it, now?"

"No." Yu shook his head. "You're wrong. We were friends once, I guess. You were important to me. I think maybe I was important to you, too, in a way."

"Tch," muttered Adachi." Here we go again…"

"Teddie said it best," Yu was saying. "He said that part of you got taken over by your power. I didn't know that part of you. I'll never understand it. It's not the part that I connected with. Back then, I didn't understand that. Now, I do. I've met a lot of people, and I learned something about them. I learned that people don't really change. The part of you that I cared about will always be in there. So will the part that I can't forgive. I can't choose the part that I want to believe in. They're both you. I've accepted that, now."

"Weird," mumbled Adachi. "'Can't choose the part that you want to believe in?' People seem to be saying shit like that a lot, lately…"

Again, Yu was silent for a long moment, his eyes boring uncomfortably into Adachi's face, until Adachi was forced to turn away.

"I came here because I wanted to see if I still felt the same way about you," Yu said eventually. "I wanted to see if I still thought you could change."

"And?" Adachi heard himself ask, before he'd even realized he was opening his mouth.

Yu shrugged. "And I don't," he said.

Without another word, Yu turned around, and left the room. He didn't slam the door behind him. He didn't look angry. He just left, as unobtrusively and calmly as he'd come. Adachi felt strangely more alone than he had before Yu's arrival.

"Heh," he muttered to himself. "Finally, the kid shows a little bit of fucking backbone."

Part, of him, however, was trying not to feel sad. It was a persistent part of him that wouldn't go away, even if the rest of him despised it.

**Meanwhile, outside the gates of Yasogami High…**

Nanako took a deep breath. "I can do this," she assured herself, as she walked out through the front doors of the school and into the street. "Lots of kids cut class all the time. It's no big deal. Min-chan and Kai-kun are always doing it. As long as I'm back before the bell rings, there's no way I'll get caught."

That, unfortunately, did not make Nanako feel any better. _The truth is, _she realized, _I like being a good girl. I like school, and I like trying my best. It makes me feel good, and proud of myself. I like that feeling. I'm never going to be able to enjoy this like the other girls do…_

Hesitantly, putting one foot in front of the other, Nanako walked down the street and out of the school grounds. It was only when she'd gotten all the way to the shopping district that she realized how fast her heart was beating.

_But this way, I won't make Dad worry, _she reminded herself. _Even if I have to lie to him about school…at least I won't make him sad. He'll be able to concentrate on work, knowing that I come home on time every day. Really, this does make the most sense._

"Hey, Nana-chan!' called Teddie, bounding over to her in human form. "What are you doing out of school? Oh, do you have the day off, today?"

Startled, Nanako shrieked. Teddie winced, and stuck a finger in his ear.

"Ow," he mumbled. "What's wrong? It's just me, your beary own Teddie! What's all the screaming about?"

"Uh, oh! It's nothing…I'm sorry, Teddie," managed Nanako hastily, biting her lip. "I didn't see you there. You scared me!"

Teddie frowned. "Huh?" he asked. "But I've been here for almost five minutes! Wow, you must have been thinking really hard about something! Ooh, is it a boy?" Suddenly, Teddie was the one who looked upset. "You don't have a boyfriend, do you, Nana-chan? I thought I was the only one for you!"

That, at least, made Nanako smile. Teddie had been begging her to go out with him ever since she'd been old enough to have friends who went on regular dates. _Actually, _she remembered, _he's been asking me out pretty much since the day we met. _It was their own special little joke, just between the two of them. At least…she hoped he was joking. There were times that she wasn't so sure.

"No," she assured him. "I don't have a boyfriend, and I'm not thinking about a boy. I'm not interested in dating, right now, anyway. There are other more important things to worry about…like my schoolwork," she told him.

_Or like the trouble that Margaret and Igor were talking about, _she thought. _The trouble that Big Bro might be in._

Teddie looked appeased. "Oh, well, then that's okay!" he said brightly. "Are you busy? I got a break at Junes!"

"I…have some errands that I have to run," Nanako said carefully. "Sorry, Teddie. Maybe we can hang out some other time? I bet Dad wouldn't mind if you came over after school. I'll have to finish my homework first, but…"

"Oh, I can help you with your errands!" interrupted Teddie. "I'm good at carrying things! Yuki-chan says I'm the best shopping helper at the Amagi Inn." He beamed, and Nanako wilted a bit. She really did have a hard time saying no to Teddie, whom she was genuinely very fond of.

That however, created a problem. She didn't have very long before she'd have to be back at school, and she'd promised Margaret and Adachi that she'd come back to the Velvet Room to see them. _How am I going to convince Teddie to let me go off on my own? _she wondered.

"We're having a sale at Junes today, in the clothing department," Teddie prattled on. "Lots of really neat stuff is going for super cheap! I have an 'employee discount' too, so I can get my clothes almost for free! Isn't that great? I wonder what the other girls would like to see me wearing. Oh, you don't mind if I dress up for the other girls, do you, Nana-chan? I could dress up for you, too…what kind of clothes do you like?"

"Me?" asked Nanako distractedly. "Um, uh, I don't really think it matters what you wear. I just sort of…"

Then, suddenly and miraculously, she had a brilliant idea. _Teddie, _she thought, _as usual, you are my hero!_

"I actually have to go and pick up a few things around town for Dad," she said. "Um, but, Teddie, if there's a sale at Junes, then you really could do me a huge favor. It'd be so nice…"

Teddie perked up instantly. "Anything!" he announced. "Just say the word and your wish is my command!"

As Nanako prepared to give Teddie her instructions, she realized that she was a lot better at being deceptive than she'd expected to be.

_And I don't think I like it, _she decided, trying not to picture her father's disapproving face in her mind.

**Chapter 34: Chapter Thirty One: Responsibility**

**Author's Note: **I'll freely confess it: you will probably notice some similarities between certain scenes in this story, and certain scenes in Messiah. It's inevitable. I came up with the idea for this story while working on Messiah/Piecekeeping, and some of the ideas I use in this story are ones that I wanted to use in Messiah/Piecekeeping, but was unable to find space or time for.

That said, don't worry! This is a totally different story, going in a totally different direction. If you do see some similarities…please pay them no mind. I promise I won't bore you by writing the same thing twice!

**Chapter Thirty Two: Responsibility**

As soon as she'd gotten rid of Teddie, Nanako ducked through the Velvet Room door in the shopping district. "Hello?" she called, her cheeks still a bit flushed from exhilarating and illicit adventure. "Is anyone…oh!"

She almost stepped on Adachi, who was sprawled out on his back on the floor, apparently taking a nap. His eyes shot open and he stared up at her for a moment before scrambling backwards and on to his feet.

"I'm sorry!" declared Nanako. "Adachi-san, why were you on the floor?"

"Why are you here?" retorted Adachi, eyes wide. "You…you actually came back. Wow. Okay, got me that time. I really wasn't expecting that."

"Ah, welcome back," murmured Igor. From her seat beside him, Margaret looked up from the book she was reading, and nodded in Nanako's direction.

"Of course I came back," said Nanako. "I promised, didn't I?"

Adachi rolled his eyes. "And you always keep your promises, huh? You sure about that? What about the promise you made to your Dad, not to go wandering around after school?"

Nanako was startled. "What? But…how do you know about that?"

"Easy." Adachi shrugged. "They've got to have figured out that I'm free by now, right? So, that means Dojima-san, bulldog of Inaba is probably on the case. I know the guy pretty well. He's pretty damn predictable, and I'm sure he told you to stay off the streets until they catch me again. Am I right?"

Nanako didn't say anything. She didn't' have to. She was positive that the look on her face had already given her away. "Anyway," she mumbled, "School isn't over yet. It's only one o'clock right now, so…I'm not breaking my promise."

Adachi looked impressed. "You're skipping school? For me? Seriously? Jeez, I guess I should be flattered…"

Nanako did her best to stand up straight and not to look ashamed of herself. "I guess you should," she retorted. "Anyway, I'm going back to school very soon, so we don't have a lot of time. We're going to learn to fight shadows, so that we can rescue Big Bro, right?"

"No," said Adachi. "We're not…wait, weren't you listening the last time? You were there when I…when I used my power. It, uh, wasn't all that impressive. So…"

"So," finished Nanako, "we're going to have to practice. We'll practice until you're strong enough and powerful enough to help. What are we waiting for?"

Displaying far more confidence than she actually felt, Nanako stepped past Adachi and over to the door that led into the TV World.

"This is not happening," muttered Adachi.

Margaret chuckled. "It does not seem that you have a choice in the matter," she informed Adachi.

"What? This is insane. This is…wait, Nanako-chan!" he called.

Nanako didn't turn around to see if he was following her. Instead, she pushed the door open and stepped out into the TV World, listening to the sound of Adachi's footsteps pounding up behind her.

Grabbing her by the shoulder a bit too roughly, he spun her around to look him in the face. Nanako took an involuntary step back, aware suddenly of something crazed, hungry, and desperate lurking in the back of his eyes.

"You don't get it," he told her. "You gotta understand. If we do this, and I start using that thing again, someone is gonna get hurt. Oh, and it's probably gonna be you, by the way."

"No," insisted Nanako, shaking her head firmly and turning around. "I won't get hurt. Not unless you want me to."

"Right," agreed Adachi. "And there, right there, that's the problem. I have no idea what I want anymore. I…I don't even know which me is the one in charge. Hey, would you come back here? I'm trying to talk to you! Damn kids…"

Nanako hadn't stopped moving. She was leading Adachi out into the center of the plateau that served as a sort of front foyer to the TV world. She very vaguely remembered this place from the few conscious moments she'd awoken to while her Big Bro had carried her out of the TV world years before. Maybe she wouldn't have remembered at all, if it hadn't been for the nightmares, but the nightmares had kept this place so very alive, and now it was familiar in a chilling sort of otherworldly way.

"Dad always says," she informed Adachi over her shoulder, "that it's important to take responsibility for your actions. If you don't want to do something, then don't do it. You are in control of you. No one else is. You can't blame the world for your mistakes."

"Tch," mumbled Adachi. "That is exactly the kind of cliché, patronizing shit that Dojima-san would say. Seriously, isn't there anything you and he don't agree on?"

Nanako smiled. "Yes," she said, finally letting him catch up to her. "We don't agree about you, Adachi-san."

That seemed to leave Adachi at something of a loss. He stood there with his mouth open, uncomfortably rubbing at the back of his neck.

"Tatsu-ta-hime," called Nanako, and her persona materialized in front of her. Both Nanako and her persona turned to gaze at Adachi.

"It's your turn," Nanako informed him.

Some of Adachi's bravado had obviously deserted him. He swallowed, glanced over his shoulder, and then muttered, "I can't. Look, Nanako, I-!"

"Yes," insisted Nanako. "You can." Unexpectedly, she remembered something that Big Bro had said to her once, when he'd been visiting for the weekend and had allowed Nanako to practice driving down the Inaba backstreets in his brand new car. She'd been frightened of the other cars on the road, and at one point had almost driven the car into a tree, forcing Yu to grab the wheel away from her and to steer her back on to the road. The whole way home, she'd sat shaking in the passenger seat while he'd murmured comfortingly to her over the sound of the radio.

"I won't let anything happen to you," she told Adachi, echoing those words. "I promise."

"Jeez." Adachi shook his head. "That's sweet, but uh…really not what you should be worrying about, right now."

**Meanwhile, in another part of the TV world…**

"Well," announced Yosuke, giving Kanji a manly clap on the back. "This is what you wanted right? Just us guys?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess so," muttered Kanji miserably. "Still, do we…really have to go through with this? I mean, we can pretty much guess what it's gonna look like already. We've seen all the other places, so…"

Yu, Yosuke, Kanji and Teddie were all standing outside the nightmare that had once been the Other Kanji's bathhouse, Yosuke and Teddie had just finished up their shift at Junes, and Yu and Kanji had met up when Yu had stopped by the textile to shop to see if Mrs. Tatsumi had any ideas as to who in the area might be looking to hire a full time employee. When the four of them had found each other at the food court, it had only made sense that they all step into the TV world, at least for a few minutes, just to see what was going on. It had been Teddie's idea to come to the bath house. After all, he'd reasoned, it was the only place leftover from ten years ago that they still hadn't taken the time to check out.

"I wish Rise-chan was here," sighed Teddie. "I always feel so much safer with her around."

"Yeah," agreed Yosuke, "but…somehow, this really just isn't the kind of place you'd want to bring a girl. Not that it's really any less awkward or uncomfortable with just guys, though…"

"Don't rub it in, senpai," mumbled Kanji. "So…are we doing this, or not?"

Yu nodded. "We're doing it," he said. "Come on." He stepped forward on to the first level of the bath house, with Kanji, Yosuke, and Teddie all trailing reluctantly behind him.

It was, Yu decided, very much like Teddie and Rise had said. The walls of the bathhouse were glistening as though recently washed, and there were pleasant sounds of bubbling water and the smells of various different kinds of bath salts. Gone was the alarming, almost predatorily sexual atmosphere of the place, and there were no longer any shadows lurking in clouds of steam or hidden behind doors.

"Hey, Teddie was right," remarked Yosuke. "This isn't so bad. Actually, it's…kind of nice."

"This _is_ the kind of place I'd want to bring a girl!" announced Teddie." Rise-chan and Yuki-chan would love it, here! It even smells pretty!"

"Man, you can't bring a girl to a men's bath," argued Yosuke. "Although, Teddie does have a point. All these floral smells are sort of feminine."

Kanji growled something under his breath, and Yu shot Yosuke a warning look. Yosuke backtracked rapidly.

"Not that there's anything wrong with that!" he insisted. "I mean, hey, girls smell great! I like girls! What's wrong with smelling like one? Wait, no, that's…that's not exactly what I wanted to say."

"Forget it," muttered Kanji. "It's cool, senpai. I know what you meant. Besides, I'm…sorta used to it by now. Once the shop starting selling plushies, it was kind of all downhill from there. Not that I really mind. I mean…hey, getting made fun of for being feminine, now that I really think about it, is a hell of a lot better than being shoved around by the cops or scaring kids just by looking at 'em."

"Right?" agreed Yosuke, grinning a bit nervously. "Oh, uh, actually, that reminds me, about those plushies…I was wondering, do you guys do commissions? Because, there's sort of something I want to buy for someone, but I can't find it in any of the stories…I guess it's sort of a specialty item."

Kanji raised an eyebrow. "Wait, for you? Really? That's, uh…unexpected. Sure, I do requests, I guess. What do you want me to make?"

"It's kind of complicated," began Yosuke.

"No problem," answered a low, familiar voice that sounded almost like Kanji's own. "After all, I'm a real man, and a real man gets the job done, right?"

Yu and the rest of the team spun around, to see the Kanji's shadow, complete with menacing yellow eyes and a strange sort of come-hither sneer on its face.

"Aw, shit," muttered Kanji, reaching for his weapon. "Figured something like this might happen. How come it's gotta be me next?"

"It's probably because we're in your shadow's world, Kanji!" announced Teddie. "Your presence and your memories are the strongest, here, so you'd be the one that the shadows naturally target!"

"Wait, is that really how it works?" asked Yosuke, frowning.

"I can do anything, make anything, be anything you need me to," continued Other Kanji proudly.

"You've got that right, at least," agreed Kanji. "Come on, what's this all about? We've already seen Yosuke-senpai's shadow. We know what's going on. I'm ready for you. Come on, hit me with your best shot!" Gritting his teeth, he planted both feet, and assumed his fighting stance.

The shadow, however, didn't move. It continued to stare at Kanji with blank disinterest in its terrible eyes. Kanji, apparently getting restless, aimed a punch right at the shadow's left shoulder. As soon as the punch connected, the shadow's face began to morph and change.

"Yup," said Kanji. "Here we go. Okay. You know what? Bring it on. I ain't got nothing to hide no more."

The face began to take shape again, the features solidifying into those of a middle-aged man, with peppery black and gray hair, and a pair of fierce, challenging eyes that reminded Yu quite strongly of Kanji's own. The man was large and built like a tank, with muscular arms and a firm set to his strong jaw. There was nothing threatening, however, about the way he stood. His very presence exuded calm and unconcern.

Kanji, on the other hand, suddenly tensed up. His arms fell to his sides, and he stared at the man.

"My son," intoned the shadow. "You have finally become a real man. Your mother and I…we are both so proud of you."

Kanji grunted in surprise, his eyes going wide.

"Kanji?" asked Yosuke." Hey, who is it? Who is this guy?" Yu, however, didn't have to ask. He already knew. Quickly, he stepped to Kanji's side. Teddie and Yosuke hastily followed suit.

"Uh," muttered Kanji, never taking his eyes off the shadow. "It's…it's my Dad."

"Remember," said Yu quietly, "It's just a trick of the shadows. It's not real. Whatever this is, it's all in your head."

"Yeah, I know that," agreed Kanji, nodding. "'Course I know that. Like any stupid shadow could get the better of Kanji Tatsumi." Still, he didn't move. For two or three silent moments, Kanji and the shadow of his father stood, their eyes locked, while Yu, Teddie, and Yosuke squared their shoulders and prepared themselves for a scuffle.

**Chapter 35: Chapter Thirty Three: Symbiosis**

**Author's Note: **Two short chapters today, to finish off the episodes I started in yesterday's update. After this will come the startling conclusion to Kanji's battle against Shadow!Dad!

**Chapter Thirty Three: Symbiosis**

With Adachi still trailing along behind her, Nanako followed her instincts. She headed off in what felt at the time like a random direction, down a winding road and over some sort of strange bridge that seemed to stretch on forever. She was moving automatically, uncertain if she was taking them closer to or farther away from their abstract goal, until she found herself at the all too familiar gates of an eerily heavenly dream world.

Involuntarily, she drew back at the gates, as floods of unwelcome memories came pouring back into her mind. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, and she was suddenly, just for a moment, a little girl again, frightened and alone, calling out for her mother, or her father, or anyone who could hear while her dreams turned into horrible, unrealistic nightmares at the hands of a cackling, maniacal madman shouting nonsense about how he was going to "save" her.

_I can't go in there, _she thought. _I don't want to go in there. I don't have to do this. I don't have to be a hero. Big Bro would understand. He always understands. No one is going to make me do this._

"Hey!" called Adachi. "Where are you-whoa!" He stopped alongside her in front of the gates, staring at the beautiful landscape on the other side. "What the hell is this?"

"It's…mine," whispered Nanako, shrinking slowly away from it as she spoke. "This is my place."

"Huh." Adachi made a face. "Is this supposed to be Heaven? It looks like something some sad-ass kid would come up with."

"Yes," agreed Nanako quietly. "It does."

Apparently, it took a moment for that to sink in. "Oh, w-wait," stammered Adachi, after a short pause. "Hang on, is this…? Right, I get it. This is where Namatame dumped you into the TV, isn't it?" He stopped for a second, apparently at a loss, and when he spoke up again, he sounded a little bit too cheerful, just the way Nanako remembered him sounding when she was a kid and he was trying to talk her out of being frightened. "Well, hey, this is better than I thought. I mean, if this came out of your head when you were five or six, then there probably aren't any shadows here. What kind of shadows would live in a place like this, anyway? Then again, fairytales and shit are always full of monsters and bad guys. Wonder why we read that stuff to our kids in the first place, actually…"

As Adachi rambled on to himself, Tatsu-ta-hime suddenly went rigid. She closed her eyes, and Nanako was instantly aware of a presence creeping towards them, watching them from somewhere just beyond the gates.

"There are shadows here," she told Adachi. "Something's coming."

"Then we," returned Adachi smoothly, grabbing her by the arm, "are leaving."

"No," insisted Nanako, shaking him off. "We're not. There are…" She frowned, focusing hard. "Oh, there are two of them."

_These shadows don't feel very strong, _she thought. _They have…weaknesses. They're weak to fire? I don't know if I can use fire. I wonder…"_

Almost as soon as Nanako finished the thought, she felt her persona rejecting the idea.

_I can't fight, _she realized. _That's not what my persona is for._

That, for a moment, was frustrating. She knew from her previous encounter with Adachi's shadow that she could heal, and she knew that she could feel things about the shadows that other people might not be able to see, but she wanted to be able to fight. _Well, no, _she corrected herself internally. _It's not that. It's just…how am I supposed to save Big Bro if all I can do is feel things? I can't protect him if I can't defend him. No, that isn't enough, there has to be something besides healing that I can do._

"Hey, what are you waiting for?" shouted Adachi. "We need to get out of here. Those things are dangerous!"

"I know," agreed Nanako, as the shadows loomed suddenly into view. They were both pretty small, but with strange, otherworldly tentacles attached to their stubby arms and legs, making them look like some cross between a squid and a fat old dog. Nanako had always liked dogs, but she didn't care for these. They were simply biologically wrong, and their glowing, hungry eyes only added to their menacing appearance.

"They're weak to fire," she informed Adachi.

"Great!" returned Adachi sarcastically. "I don't use fire! Can we go? Please? Come on!"

One of the shadows suddenly lashed out at Nanako with two flailing tentacles. She scurried to the side, dodging the blow, but the second creature's tentacles managed to trip her up and send her crashing to the ground. It hurt, and she lay there for a moment, frantically wondering what she was supposed to do next.

_I can't force him to fight, _she thought. _Maybe this was a bad idea…_

"You're damn right it was a bad idea!" shouted Adachi, as the two shadows leapt over Nanako's prone body and made straight for him. "How are you only figuring that out now? You should have listened to me before!"

Nanako struggled to her feet, just in time to see Adachi's panicky eyes darting back and forth between her and the shadows. "Aw, hell," he muttered, planting both feet to prepare for the oncoming attack. "Why the fuck can't you all just leave me alone?"

As he spoke, his voice changed slightly, deepening and taking on the flippant, rasping, dangerous quality that Nanako knew belonged to the inner voice of his Other Self. He shut his eyes, sucked in a sharp breath, and then winced, clutching hard at his temples. His persona erupted out of his soul, cackling and flinging herself full-force at one of the oncoming shadows. The sound of her laughter mingled with Adachi's strangled cry of what sounded like pain as she tore forth from him.

_It hurts him, _Nanako realized in surprise. _When his persona comes out, it hurts him. That can't be right…is it because he doesn't want to let it out?_

One of the shadows hung back, while the other rushed forward and wrapped its tentacles slowly around Adachi's neck, apparently intending to squeeze the life out of him. He gasped for air, and Nanako screamed in fright, watching as his face began to turn colors.

"Agi," he managed to rasp out. Flames shot out of his persona's fingertips, searing the tentacles and forcing them to drop away from Adachi's neck.

_But, he said he didn't use fire!_ realized Nanako.

"Heh." Adachi shrugged, rubbing his neck. "Guess I was wrong…"

Having watched his comrade get burned, the second shadow paused for a moment, apparently uncertain of what its next move should be. Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto took the opportunity and hurtled down at it, arms outstretched. The persona didn't carry a weapon, and so for a moment Nanako wasn't certain if Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto would be able to have any effect on the shadow. Nanako was, therefore, startled and horrified when Adachi's persona picked up one of the shadows, and began tearing its tentacles off, ripping pieces of the creature apart and throwing them carelessly to the ground.

The shadows, terrified, screamed. The one shadow that was still unmangled turned around and began scuttling off as fast as it could. Adachi watched the carnage that his persona was wreaking on the first shadow, and a slow, manically triumphant grin began spreading across his face. As his persona wrenched at the shadow's last tentacle, the shadow gave up and exploded into a cloud of red and black essence that looked to Nanako like a spurt of blood.

"Did you like that?" asked Adachi. "Pretty badass, right? I think I'll call it 'Reign of Terror.' That's got a nice ring to it. Oh, hey, but that's' only one of them. The other one's getting away."

_Stop it, _thought Nanako.

Adachi laughed and shook his head. "Nah," he insisted. "Why stop now, when I'm having so much fun? I'm just starting to get used to this shit again. This is what you wanted, isn't it? The real me? So, I'm gonna go all out for you. I'm gonna show you just what that power you're after really looks like."

"You're scaring me," Nanako accused him.

Adachi just shrugged. "Is that so? Well, it's about damn time…"

Again, Nanako felt her persona reacting to her fear. It was calling out to her somehow, trying to comfort and calm her. She paused a moment, letting those feelings overtake her, and then suddenly, without realizing how she knew it, she knew what the next step had to be.

"Tatsu-ta-hime," she whispered. " Tranquility."

The persona nodded once in Nanako's direction, and then turned its attention on Adachi. Closing her eyes, Tatsu-ta-hime reached out and placed two fingers carefully on the forehead of Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto. Adachi's persona looked startled for a moment. Then, in complete silence, Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto vanished into thin air.

"Wha…what the hell?" stammered Adachi, staring around at the emptiness. "Where'd she go? What did you-?"

"I sent her away," murmured Nanako. "Do you feel better?"

"Uh…" Adachi's body began to relax, and his hands began to shake as whatever had taken a hold on him apparently let go and returned to the depths of his soul. "Y-yeah. I guess so. Maybe. Seriously, how did you-?"

Nanako smiled. So did Tatsu-ta-hime, before vanishing in her own turn.

_I am thou, and thou art I_, said a voice that Nanako felt rather than heard. _Thou hast established a new bond. Thou shalt be blessed when creating personas of the Justice arcana._

"Huh?" asked Nanako, startled. "Did you hear that?"

Adachi nodded. "I did, yeah," he agreed. "Um…wait, you heard it to? I, uh, kinda got this weird feeling that it was for me. You know, just me."

Nanako shrugged. "You can hear my thoughts when I use my persona, right?" she asked. "Maybe it's sort of like that…"

"And that," retorted Adachi, sighing, "makes no sense. Not that I'm shocked, or anything."

Something shimmered suddenly in mid-air, taking the shape of a glowing tarot card with a face on one-side. As the two of them watched, the card slowly spun around to reveal the image of a pair of scales, one red and one white.

"I…suddenly don't feel so good," muttered Adachi, shaking his head wearily. "Actually, I think I'm gonna be sick. Are you happy, now? Can, we, uh…?"

He sagged, and Nanako hurried over to throw one of his arms around her shoulders and help him stay upright.

"Uh huh," she agreed. "I am. And, we can. I have to get back to school anyway."

"Right," agreed Adachi distractedly. "School. Jeez, you're seriously gonna go back? You know, most kids wouldn't do that. It's kind of missing the point of skipping school, don't you think?"

Nanako smiled to herself. _I guess I'm not most kids, _she decided.

**Chapter 36: Chapter Thirty Four: A Real Man**

**Author's Note: **Dear Readers: I made a mistake!

The name of Yosuke's persona should be Bishamonten, not Visravanya. Same persona, but I gave him the wrong name because I had too many windows open at once, and got things mixed up. My mistake. I am going back to correct the problem, but from now on, it's Bishamonten. Sorry for the confusion.

Also, today I have an exciting recommendation! **ReachingoutFES** and **Gin Nanashi** have just published the beginning of a brand new story! It's called **Love to Live and Live to Love**, and it features an alternate universe take on the Yu x Minako pairing. I've read the first chapter and the characterization is excellent, so please do go check it out.

**Chapter Thirty Four: A Real Man**

"H-huh?" stammered Teddie, eyes wide. "Wait, this guy's your Dad? But, Kanji, I thought you said your Dad was-!"

"Dead, right," grunted Kanji. "So, like, it looks like the shadows are turning into dead people, now. We already knew that."

Yosuke frowned. "Wow, Kanji," he admitted. "I'm…actually kind of impressed. You're being pretty calm about this."

"Why wouldn't I be calm?" asked Kanji, a little more forcefully than maybe he meant to. "We've seen this happen before, right? I 'd be stupid to let it get to me."

"Uh, sure. Right. Of course!" Yosuke shot a startled glance at Yu. "Good on you, man. Never thought I'd say this, but way to be a bigger man then me. I…didn't do so well when it came to senpai's shadow."

"You are a true man," agreed Kanji's father nodding and placing one hand on Kanji's shoulder. "You are everything I had always hoped that you would be, Kanij-kun. You are everything that I wish I'd lived to be."

Kanji's eyes went wide. "Dad…?" he hazarded. "Huh, you, uh…you never said anything like that when you were alive. Would have been pretty nice to hear back then. Mom would have liked it, too."

It looked, from where Yu was standing, that the shadow of Kanji's father was slowly getting larger and larger, although it was happening so slowly that Yu couldn't be entirely sure.

"Kanji," he began. "We need to finish this."

Kanji nodded. "I know," he insisted. "I got it, I just…you know, I want to let him get it all out, first. Once he's said all he has to say, then I'll take him out."

_Yes, _decided Yu. _He's definitely getting larger. _The shadow's face was beginning to warp slightly, and the looks on Yosuke and Teddie's faces showed Yu that they had now noticed it as well.

"Um, Kanji?" hazarded Yosuke. "I don't really think we have time for that."

"Didn't have much time for it when he was alive, either," muttered Kanji, more to himself than to Yosuke and the others.

"My son," murmured the shadow of Kanji's father. "My only son. The son I always knew you would grow up to be."

Kanji's face flushed slightly, and he straightened his shoulders, looking proud. "I wanted to do you proud, Dad," he told the shadow. "Always did. That's what got me so messed up inside, for so long. I just wanted to be the guy you'd been hoping for. Sucks that I couldn't do it while you were alive, but…you just keep watching, wherever you are. It's only gonna get better from now on."

The shadow of Kanji's father smiled There was a brief instant during which Kanji and the shadow watched each other, the shadow beaming with pride and Kanji grinning all over his face with childish pleasure. Then, there was a crack of what sounded like lightning, and all of a sudden, Kanji's father was gone. A bolt of energy shot out him as he dissolved into the form of a giant, muscle-bound thunder god with a long, flowing beard. There was a lightning bolt in one of his hands, and a furled scroll in the other.

"Oh no," muttered Teddie. Yosuke made a mad dash to get to Kanji's side, followed almost immediately by Yu.

Kanji closed his eyes. "Sorry, guys," he growled. "Guess I wasn't as prepared for this shit as I thought. It's okay, though, I got this under control. This thing isn't my Dad. I ain't' got no problem beating the shit out of it."

Summoning his persona, Kanji hauled back and slammed his fist straight into the shadow's face. Unfortunately, the attack bounced off, and Kanji took the full force of the blow, stumbling backwards into Teddie's waiting arms.

"I guess physical attacks won't work," remarked Teddie, unhelpfully.

Yosuke sighed. "Why do I feel like we should have known that already?" he asked." I mean…this guy is supposed to be your Dad, right Kanji? So, he's probably a lot like you, and you're…pretty much a tank."

The shadow grinned at Yosuke, then slammed its elbow down hard on his shoulder. It kicked out with one leg, striking him hard in the stomach. Yosuke gasped, winded, and fell back to join the others. Teddie began frantically casting healing spells on both injured team members.

"Like Kanji," muttered Yu, his mind working fast. _If he's Kanji's Dad, and he comes from Kanji's memories, then he'll probably have all the powers that Kanji thinks belong to a 'real man.' He won't be weak to lightning, that's for sure. He won't be weak to fire, because Kanji isn't, and he'd probably never look up to anyone who is._

"Yosuke!" called Yu. "Try a wind attack!"

Yosuke shook Teddie off. "You got it, partner!" he announced, summoning his persona. "Bishamonten, Garudyne!"

The persona launched a whirling barrage of wind in the shadow's direction. It didn't exactly bounce off, but it also did not seem to do a great deal of damage.

"Nope," said Teddie. "Not wind. What's next, Sensei?"

_Right, _thought Yu, shaking his head. _Kanji's father wouldn't be weak to wind, either, because Kanji is. The image of Kanji's father in his head couldn't possibly have the same weaknesses that he does. Kanji's always pictured his father as being the perfect paragon of a powerful man. He probably thinks his father would look down on him for being weak to wind…or for having weaknesses at all, actually. Oh…that's not good._

"Um, guys," called Yu, as Teddie, Yosuke, and Kanji continued to lob a number of varied attacks against the shadow, all with less than impressive results. "I don't think he has any weaknesses."

"What?" Yosuke grimaced. "Seriously? That's nuts! Man, I wish Rise was here after all…"

Upon hearing Yu's words, however, Kanji stopped suddenly. "Nah," he muttered. "That can't be right. Because…"

For a moment, Yu's eyes met Kanji's. Yu was the first to look away. He didn't love the question he knew he had to ask.

"Kanji," he shouted, over the impressive sound of the shadow's fist hitting the ground in exactly the place that Teddie had been only milliseconds before. "How did your father die?"

"Ugh." Kanji grunted to himself. "Yeah, you're right. Damn, I hate that it had to be that, though…makes this even worse, somehow."

Yu nodded. "King Frost," he mumbled, feeling the strange sort of rush of adrenaline, followed by the sharp, tingling sensation that always accompanied a chance of persona. As soon as King Frost had materialized in front of the group, Yu pointed at the shadow. "Bufudyne," he commanded.

King Frost performed the attack, and shards of ice collected around the shadow's body. As soon as the shadow felt the touch of the freezing spell, he staggered backward, apparently stunned. Yu performed the attack again, and this time the shadow crumpled to his knees. Then he shuddered, muttered something under his breath, and slowly transformed again into the image of Kanji's father.

"Wait," asked Yosuke. "How did you know that was gonna work?"

Kanji sighed. "Dad died in the hospital," he mumbled. "He got sick while he was messing around, trying to clear out the driveway after a big snow came, and he just…never got better, I guess. The doctors said that shit happens sometimes. Said there was nothing they could do. Not sure I ever really believed it. I mean…a cold? How'd something pathetic like that manage to kill my Dad? Just didn't seem right…"

"Damn," muttered Yosuke, biting his lip. That, apparently was all he had to say on the subject. Teddie seemed to be at a loss as well.

"Anyway," continued Kanji, approaching his father. "Uh…look, I'm sorry about that, even if you're not my real Dad, or nothing. It was pretty nice, the stuff you said. Wish Mom coulda heard it."

He reached down, and helped the shadow of his father back up on to its feet. It stood and gazed at him, emotionless.

"Hey, listen," said Yosuke. "Kanji…I don't think it matters if your mom hears it or not. I mean…either way, it's true what he said. You're a hell of a man, now, whatever that means. Your mom watched you grow up. She's gotta already know how proud your dad would be."

Kanji smiled, a little sheepishly. "Jeez, senpai," he mumbled. "The hell am I supposed to say to that?"

Yosuke looked momentarily uncomfortable. "Uh, you don't have to say anything," he retorted hurriedly. "It's not like it's a big deal or anything…"

"Wow, Kanji," cried Teddie. "That was super cool! I didn't know you could be that cool."

Kanji glared at him. "What? What's that supposed to be mean? I've always been cool…right, senpai?" He glanced at Yu for confirmation, then frowned, and turned back to the shadow of his father. "Although…I guess what's really cool about this whole thing is that my Dad finally got to see it. Maybe, though, maybe he's seen it all along. You think he's watching us from Heaven? Is it, uh…is it weird that I sorta like to think he is?"

Placing a hand on Kanji's shoulder, Yu shook his head. "It's not weird at all," he assured his friend.

"Yeah, okay," agreed Kanji. "Well…I guess, then, this is goodbye, Dad. I, uh…I miss you. Maybe it's not so manly to admit that, but, uh…guess I don't really care."

Kanji's father nodded, once, and smiled. Then he vanished in a shower of light. As he disappeared, Kanji's persona suddenly glanced up at the sky, as though looking at something just beyond the visual reach of the others. Moments later, Kanji's person was engulfed as well in blinding light.

_The strength of heart to let go of the past has been made manifest, _said a familiar voice.

As they watched, the light died away, and Kanji's persona was again visible, although it had transformed completely. Now, it looked very much the shadow, with a long, flowing white beard, a lightning bolt in one hand and an unfurled scroll in the other, wearing robes of pure, brilliant blue. Across its back was laid what looked like a long walking stick, and the persona hunched slightly under the apparent weight.

_Kanji has faced and forgiven the past, _said the voice. _He has obtained the façade used to face the unforeseeable future; the persona Jurojin._

"My new power," muttered Kanji. "Uh, it's some old guy? I'm….not really sure how to feel about that."

Yosuke shrugged. "How about we go test it out on some shadows?" he suggested. "Bishamonten and I could use some more practice ourselves."

Kanji nodded. "Sure," he said. Yu felt he had to step in.

"Not today," he informed them, shaking his head. "I think we've had enough excitement. We got what we came for; we figured out that Kanji's bathhouse is behaving the same way as all the other places. We're all tired, and most of us still have work to do, today. I think it's time we went back to the real world."

Kanji's persona disappeared, and Yu began leading the others back out through the avenues of the TV world.

"Killjoy," muttered Yosuke, under his breath.

Yu raised an eyebrow. "What was that?" he asked.

"Huh?" Yosuke sounded startled. "You heard me? I mean, uh…nothing!"

**Chapter 37: Chapter Thirty Five: Trust**

**Chapter Thirty Five: Trust**

That night, Nanako sat at her desk in her own room, frowning unhappily down at her math homework. Having missed math class that day, she had thought to borrow notes from her classmate Mai before the final bell had rung. Mai was significantly better at math than Nanako was, and she'd coached Nanako through difficult exams in the past.

Unfortunately, since Mai was a lot better at math, her notes were much less detailed than Nanako really needed them to be. The things that already came easily to Mai weren't marked down, and Nanako found herself struggling to get through even the first sets of homework problems.

_This would be a lot easier if I'd been in class, _she realized. _The teacher is always so good at explaining things. I'm sure that if I had my own notes, I wouldn't be having this much trouble. Tomorrow, I can't skip math class. Tomorrow, I'll have to skip something else…_

She thought about that for a moment, trying to figure out which would be the best class to miss. _Maybe English? I'm very good at English. I'm sure I'll do okay on the test, even if I miss a few class periods. Oh, but…I always talk a lot in English, and answer all the teacher's questions. People will notice if I don't come to class. No, that won't work._

The unfinished homework glared up tauntingly at her, while the desk clock informed her that it was already ten forty-five. Any hope she might have had of being in bed by midnight evaporated.

"I can't do this," she said, sighing and closing the book. "If I keep this up, I'm going to fail out of high school, and then I'll have to take it again. I can't skip class every day. Maybe only once a week?" Somehow, Nanako felt that neither Adachi nor Margaret and Igor would be satisfied with her visiting only once every week. Besides, that might not be enough time to prepare both her and Adachi for whatever was menacing her cousin.

_I can worry about that later, _she decided. _Right now I have to finish my homework, or I won't get any sleep, and being tired tomorrow will make all of this even worse!_

**Meanwhile, in Yu and Chie's room…**

Yu glanced up from the book he was reading when the door opened and Chie walked in. She looked exhausted.

"Hi," she said, dumping her bag on the floor next to the bed. "Sorry I'm so late…we had a long day."

"Sorry to hear that," said Yu. "You look pretty tired." He abandoned the book and walked over to give her a kiss, which she accepted with a pleased little smile. "It has to be hard," he went on. "Especially since we sort of know where Adachi is. I know what it's like to spend hours lying to uncle Dojima. It…isn't a lot of fun."

"He's a good man," sighed Chie. "Like a hero in an old Kung Fu movie, or an old fashioned samurai. He wants his truth and justice so badly. He really makes you want to become a part of his cause and help him out. He's, um…inspiring!"

"You are helping out," Yu reminded her. "Even if it means keeping him in the dark. You have to remember that or it'll start to be too much to take."

"I guess so." Chie nodded. "Anyway, Naoto's a lot better at this whole lying thing than I am. She always seems to know the right things to say." Frowning, she shook her head. "Let's not talk about that, it's too depressing. How was your day? Is your job hunt going well?"

"Actually, it is," said Yu. "I might be in luck. There's a teaching position open at Yasogami."

Chie looked surprised. "Wow, really? Who quit?"

"Mr. Hosoi," replied Yu. "I think he retired."

Chie nodded. "Yeah, I guess he was already pretty old when we were kids," she agreed. "Hey, that's great news! Are they gonna give you an interview? Shouldn't be that hard, seeing as you're a former student, and all."

"There's something else, though," Yu informed her. "Yosuke, Teddie, Kanji and I went into the TV world today. We met the shadow of Kanji's father."

While Chie listened with rapt attention, Yu elaborated on the events of that day, describing the battle with Kanji's shadow, and the emergence of his new persona. When he was finished, Chie laughed.

"So, his persona's some strong old man?" she asked. "Wow…do you remember how the kids used to call him 'old timer?' I guess now it finally fits!"

Yu grinned back at her. "And," he added, trying to slip it in casually, "I went to see Adachi today."

Chie's face instantly fell. "Wait, you what?" she demanded. "Why would you do something like that?"

"I wanted to prove to myself that I don't care about him anymore," insisted Yu quickly. "I wanted to prove it to you, too! And I don't. I mean, I don't care. I'm not protecting him, Chie, and I'm not gonna let him get away with anything that could hurt my friends or my family. You have to believe that. You have to believe in me."

He reached for her hand, and Chie took it, sighing. "Of course I believe in you, you idiot," she muttered "I never didn't believe in you. Didn't you listen to what I said this morning? You and Yosuke are the same, neither of you ever really listen when I'm talking. I'm not worried about you betraying us or protecting him or…anything like that."

Yu was confused. "Then…what did we fight about?" he asked.

"I'm worried about you, that's all," Chie explained. "I'm worried that he'll hurt you again if you let yourself think that he's changed or that he be the guy you thought he was. I don't want you going back to see him alone, not ever again, okay? You have to promise me. You did that once before, and it wasn't a good idea, then. It's not a good idea, now. We're in this together. I mean, you, me, Yosuke, and the others…we're all in it together."

"What about you and me?" asked Yu. "Just you and me, I mean."

Chie's face went a little bit red. "Obviously," she mumbled. "And always."

**Meanwhile, back in Nanako's room…**

Nanako was asleep. In the midst of her dreams, she found herself again in the Velvet Room.

It was a lot less jarring this time than it had been the first time. It felt much more comfortable and familiar already, waking up in that strange, blue place. Margaret and Igor were both in their seats, watching her as she walked across to join them.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," murmured Igor.

"Thank you," replied Nanako politely. "Um…why did you bring here? I already came, today. Right now, I need to sleep. If I start getting bad grades, Dad will notice, and he'll get mad. That'll make everything much more difficult, and maybe I won't be able to come anymore."

Margaret nodded. "I understand," she said. "Please, forgive us for the intrusion, but we felt that there was something you wished to discuss with us. As you say, your father is something of an obstacle that we must overcome. It seemed best to invite you here in your dreams, so as to avoid the difficulty of having you visit us during the day."

Nanako sighed. "You're right," she admitted. "Dad doesn't want to let me out of the house at all, unless I'm at school, so that he can always know where I am. He's worried about Adachi-san, and I can't tell him not to be worried. I thought I could just skip a few classes at school and come visit Adachi-san during the day, so that Dad wouldn't notice, but…that's not going to work, either. If I keep skipping school, I'll start failing. It's already hard trying to finish my homework without having been in class. This isn't going to work as a long-term solution. I'm not sure what to do. I'm sorry…"

Nanako was embarrassed. Three people at least were counting on her, if she didn't include Big Bro who didn't know yet that she was trying to help. She was letting them all down, and she both knew it and hated it, but skipping out on class regularly just didn't look as though it was going to be a real option. _If only I was smarter, _she admonished herself. _I bet Big Bro could do all of the high school homework with his eyes closed! I'm just not smart enough…that's my fault. That's why this isn't working._

"Hmm,' intoned Igor. "That is…certainly a serious difficulty." He and Margaret exchanged a look. Margaret nodded.

"I believe that I may have the solution," Margaret informed Nanako.

Nanako was startled "Really?" she asked. "Um…what is it?"

Margaret shook her head. "My Master and I must discuss further," she said. "Do not be alarmed, it will require no further efforts on your part. It is my sincere hope that you will soon be able to visit the Velvet Room at our leisure, without any concern for your father's wishes."

"That's probably impossible." Nanako frowned. "How can I not worry about Dad? If he found out, he'd be angry, but…even worse, he'd be so sad. Maybe he'd stop going to work, and it looks like they might not fire him after all, so I can't distract him right now. You have to understand-!"

"Please," interrupted Margaret holding up a hand to forestall Nanako's insistence. "Be at ease. You may trust us."

Nanako wanted to trust them. She was, however, just a little bit worried about the nature of this plan. "You…aren't going to do anything to my Dad, right?" she asked. "I don't want him to be a part of this. You have to leave him alone. He's had a really bad year, he deserves a break."

"No harm will come to your father," Igor assured her. "It is not within our power to harm our guests, or the loved ones of our guests in any way."

That made Nanako feel a lot better. "Well, okay," she said. "Then I guess…I'll see you tomorrow, I think. I have to go to sleep now, though."

Margaret smiled. "Good night," she murmured. The air around Nanako began to blur, and Margaret and Igor's faces became gradually less distinct.

"Good night,' whispered Nanako, allowing her eyes to close again. She was so very tired.

**Chapter 38: Chapter Thirty Six: Happy**

**Author's Note: **So, beginning today, I have three weeks of summer vacation. It couldn't be helped – the family I was working for moved away today, and my two new jobs don't start until August 24. I'll be rehearsing during the evening, but during the day I'll be mostly free. Starting August 26, however, I'll be working seven days a week, mornings, afternoons, and evenings. With that in mind, here's the plan:

For the next few weeks, I'll be focusing my literary energies entirely on **Dreamgirl**, in hopes of finishing it before the end of vacation. After that, I'll start focusing on **M-Path**, which looks as though it's going to be a much longer-term project and will require a lot more thought.

With that in mind, I hope you're looking forward to some epic **Dreamgirl** and **Daydreams** updates! Um, even if I'm the only one looking forward to it, it'll help me get through a long, penniless, boring summer break, so…that counts for something, I'm sure!

**Chapter Thirty Six: Happy**

Dojima woke up late again the next morning, and barely managed to get his shower and shave before it was time to head to work. He'd come in after midnight the evening before, having stayed at the station long after he'd let the rest of his team go home. None of his extra rigor had achieved anything, however He hadn't made any further breakthroughs in the case, and as he drove through the shopping district on his way to the station, he had trouble feeling optimistic about the rest of the day.

Hoping to charge up both his batteries and his spirits a bit, he stopped for a cup of coffee at one of the new places in town. While he waited in the drink line, he overheard some of the local housewives chatting to each other.

"It's so sad," one woman in a very ugly green sweater was saying to her friend. "It's almost like the end of a tragic love story in the movies."

"But isn't that sort of sweet?" replied the other woman, who was inexplicably wearing a dress that was far too short for the chilly October weather. "If you died, wouldn't you want your husband to go, too? I mean, it's almost like Romeo and Juliet!"

The woman in the sweater gave her friend a disgusted look. "How horrible. How could you say such a thing? I bet your husband wouldn't like hearing those things. Anyway, it wasn't like that at all. Mr. Nakano was almost ninety years old, and he didn't kill himself because of star-crossed love, or anything. He just died because he was lonely. I'd hate dying alone, like that…and I wouldn't wish it on my husband, either."

The woman in the short dress shrugged. "Sorry," she mumbled. "But I mean, he died sitting in front of the TV, clutching his dead wife's picture! And she'd only passed away like, a couple of months before him! It's a testament to the fact that there's really no point in living without love, I guess. Hey, isn't there a song that goes like that?"

The two women got their drinks and wandered off, still chatting. Dojima tried not to think too hard about it.

_No point in living without love_, he thought. _It's cliché and stupid, but maybe there's something in that. If it weren't for Nanako, I'd probably have…_

That, however, was a train of thought that he had no real interest in following. He'd thought the same things so many times before that it wasn't worth going over them again. He paid for his drink and took it back to the car with him, determined to shake off the gloomy feelings that the encounter had left him with. After all, there was work to do today.

"Good morning!" announced Chie cheerfully, as Dojima walked into the station.

"Good morning, Dojima-san," added Naoto. Takahashi nodded in agreement.

"Morning, guys," muttered Dojima, placing his coffee down on the one currently unoccupied corner. _I'm gonna have to start getting here earlier if I want any desk space, _he decided.

"What's it gonna be today?" asked Chie. She looked so eager and enthusiastic that it almost gave Dojima a headache. He glanced around at the others, and realized that even Takahashi and Naoto were looking a little bit antsy. Naoto kept crossing and uncrossing her legs under the desk, and Takahashi was drumming his fingers against the desktop. _We've been stuck in here for too long, huh? _thought Dojima. _Yeah, I guess that's true._

"Today," he announced, "we're going on patrol. Takahashi, you go with Satona-uh, sorry, with Narukami. Shirogane, you're coming with me. Let's see if we can dig up any information on where Adachi's been hiding."

Everyone got to his or her feet, each of them looking genuinely relieved. "Are we really sure that Adachi-san is even in the Inaba area, sir?" asked Naoto, as they all made their way out of the station again.

Dojima gritted his teeth. "I'm pretty damn positive, yeah," he muttered. "There aren't many other places he'd go to get revenge."

Naoto opened her mouth to reply, but before she had a chance, the chief walked over to intercept them.

"Hey," he said. "Any of you guys seen Fujioka today?"

Chie looked startled. "Wait, really? He still hasn't come in to work?"

The chief scowled. "Goddamnit," he muttered. "Maybe I'd better file a missing person's report…" He wandered back to his desk, muttering under his breath.

"Hmm," murmured Naoto thoughtfully.

Chie frowned. "What's up?"

"It's…nothing, I hope," replied Naoto quietly, shaking her head. "It certainly should be nothing. My ideas completely fail to make sense…"

Apparently lost in thought, she strode to the front of the group and out of the station, forcing the others to hurry to catch up.

**That afternoon, outside Yasogami High…**

Nanako was nervous. Taking Margaret's word from the night before, she'd attended all of her classes that day, and had been honestly relieved at not having to miss out on anything that might show up on the test. The day had gone by relatively quickly, with Nanako devoting her full attention to her studies. It was only when the last bell rang for the end of school that Nanako began to seriously worry.

Briefly, she considered calling her father at work and begging him to let her spend the afternoon with friends. The trouble was, of course, that Nanako never did anything like that, and so her attempting it now would seem all the more suspicious. Dad wasn't likely to go for it anyway, she decided. After all, he'd been very clear about what he expected from her.

_I've only got two choices, _she decided. _I can go straight home or I can trust Margaret and try going to the Velvet Room today. After all, she did say that she had an idea._

In the end however, Nanako didn't have to make any decision at all. As soon as she got outside the school gates, she found Yu leaning against the hood of his car and looking over a packet of papers.

"Big Bro?" asked Nanako, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Is that any way to greet your cousin?" asked Yu, raising an eyebrow.

Something about the way he said it made Nanako smile. "Wow, you sounded just like Dad when you said that," she told him. Yu grinned back at her.

"I had a job interview here," he said. "Actually, I only finished here a few minutes ago, so I thought I'd wait around and see if you wanted to do something after school. I…have been pretty busy lately, with job hunting, and that sort of thing. I'm sorry, Nanako. I really should have made some more time for you."

Nanako tried to play it off as though it didn't matter. "Its fine," she assured him, doing her best to look disinterested. "I've been busy too. You know, we've got exams coming up, so, it's not like I've had tons of time myself. Like, today I have to…"

She trailed off. Yu was still smiling at her and it made her feel like a little kid again, which she honestly didn't mind. "I'm glad you waited," she murmured. "Thanks."

Yu took her backpack, and spent a couple of minutes moving things around to make space for her in the passenger seat.

"But," protested Nanako, "Won't Dad be angry? He told me to come straight home after school, remember?"

Yu waved that away. "I called him," he assured her. "He knows that you're with me, so it's okay. He and Chie are probably working late today anyway, so they can keep each other company. So…where do you want to go? If you've really got too much homework, I'll just drive you home, but it would be nice to get some time with my favorite cousin."

Nanako knew that she should say no. She knew that she'd made a commitment to Margaret, and that what she should be doing right now was declining Yu's offer and hurrying over to the Velvet Room to help with Adachi's training. She almost found it in her heart to say that she really was too busy, and to ask Yu to leave her at school so that she could meet up with a study partner.

_But I miss him when he's gone, _she told herself. _I've barely seen him at all since he's been living in Inaba again…and once he's got a new job, he'll be too busy to spend any time with me. Besides, if I tell Margaret that Yu needed me to do something, she'll understand, and this way, Dad knows where I am, so I'm not breaking my promise. I can go to the Velvet Room tomorrow. I will go tomorrow, definitely._

"Um," she hazarded, "can we…go to Junes? I am a little hungry."

Yu laughed. "Some things never change," he said, shutting the car door.

They drove over to the food court, where they found Yosuke and Teddie working the three o'clock after-school rush. They looked extremely busy, so Nanako decided it would be best not to bother them. Lots of students from Nanako's school were there, and it took a few minutes for Yu and Nanako to find a table.

"Is it embarrassing, coming here with me?" asked Yu. "You'd probably rather be here with your friends, instead."

Nanako shook her head furiously. "Nope!" she insisted. "It's not embarrassing at all! You're really cool. Everybody else thinks so, too. Besides, I don't…really come here with my friends."

"Hmm?" Yu frowned. "Why not? Is Junes not the place where everybody hangs out, anymore? It's still the biggest place in town, so I'm surprised."

Nanako fidgeted with her skirt, suddenly uncomfortable. "No," she murmured. "No, that's not it."

They spent a few minutes looking over the menu, and Nanako ended up ordering a Teddie burger.

"Teddie burger?" asked Yu. "That's one of the items here now? I'm not even sure I want to know what that's made of."

"It's a veggie burger," Nanako informed him. "You know, because we shouldn't eat cute animals like Teddie, or something like that. Anyway, it's really good! Are you getting anything?"

Yu ordered a classic plate of grilled steak. While they waited for their food to arrive, Nanako realized that Yu was watching her intently.

"What is it?" she asked, trying not to sound too bothered.

Yu shrugged. "You were saying that you never come here with your friends," he reminded her. "You never told me why, though."

_Wow, _thought Nanako. _He really is just like Dad. I feel like I'm being interrogated. I wonder if Big Bro's mom is the same way…that would explain where Dad got it from, since he's the younger brother._

"Well?" insisted Yu.

Nanako felt herself starting to sweat a little bit. "I, um…I don't actually have that many friends," she explained. "Oh, it's not that I don't like the other kids at school. Everyone's so nice I just…I always go home straight afterwards, and I don't go out much on weekends. I have to study extra hard so that I can get good grades, and Dad's always been really strict. He can't cook for himself, and he doesn't clean up much, so I have to make sure that I get all the housework done, and I do the shopping, too…"

Yu sighed heavily. "I was afraid it would be something like that," he muttered.

Nanako didn't like the unhappy look on his face. "It doesn't bother me!" she assured him quickly. "I like being able to help! Dad helps too, like when I'm having trouble with my homework, he always stays up late to teach me and to make sure I understand. I know he works really hard during the day, so it's the least I can do."

Yu gave her a stern look. "You're seventeen years old, Nanako," he reminded her. "I had sort of hoped you'd be living a normal life, like a normal kid is supposed to do. I didn't realize how hard things have been on you. I suppose I probably should have. It's not like I didn't see the way things were when I lived here ten years ago. I just…I guess I'd hoped that life would be different for you, now, although I admit that I'm not sure what would have changed to bring that about."

"I'm sorry I upset you," murmured Nanako. "You don't have to worry about me. I'm fine. Even Dad's feeling better, now that it looks like he won't lose his job."

The food arrived, and Yu gave his grilled steak a wryly amused look.

"You know," he said, "I've had a lot of grilled steak, and steak prepared in lots of other ways over the past few years. I'm sure I've had steak that's much better than what we get at Junes, but…somehow, it always tastes just right when I'm here. Maybe it's the memories."

Putting his fork down, he reached across the table and squeezed Nanako's hand. She blinked at him, halfway through a bite of her Teddie burger.

"Everything's going to be okay now," he assured her. "Chie and I are going to start helping out around the house. I can cook, and she can clean. We'll both do the laundry. You don't have to be in charge of running your Dad's life anymore. Just focus on being a good student, and on being happy. That's what we want, and I know it's what your Dad wants, too. Okay?"

"Okay." Nanako felt a surge of warmth inside. "I'll try. But…can I still help a little bit? I'm getting pretty good at cooking!"

"Hey, Sensei! Nana-chan!" Teddie came waddling over to them in his bear suit, waving enthusiastically. "I didn't know you'd be here, today! No fair! Is school over, already?"

Nanako watched Yu and Teddie chatting, and for some reason her burger tasted better than it ever had before.

_Maybe, _she thought, echoing Yu's words, _it's the memories. Or maybe it's better than that. Maybe it's the future I'm so excited about._

**Chapter 39: Chapter Thirty Seven: Pretty Woman**

**Author's Note: **Oh boy, no more writing today. Er, at least, no more story writing. Now I have to go write papers for class.

If you do happen to be reading this (and I know, I'm barraging you with updates, which is hardly fair) then I would love to hear from you! Reviews and comments always delight me and help make my homework all-nighters much more pleasant. Thank you so much to everyone who's taken the time to read and review so far!

Oh, as a matter of fact, I have a (slightly random) question. Some of you like anime, right? I do get that impression from reading your profiles. Do any of you go to anime conventions? Dag has invited me to go to Otakon with him in a couple of weeks, and originally I was planning to go…but I've heard some really terrible things about it being too crowded, no fun, and full of very mean people. Have any of you lovely people been to Otakon? If you have, what is it like? I am on the fence and could use some advice, and my beloved real world friends are not really anime or video game people, so they don't really have the answer this time.

**Chapter Thirty Seven: Pretty Woman**

Dojima and Naoto had just completed their third circuit of the shopping district, having stopped along the way to question every person they met. Dojima was feeling more than a little bit disgruntled at the lack of information he'd received, and even Naoto, who was always perfectly collected, seemed to be struggling against her frustration.

"Forgive me," she muttered, taking a quick breath, "but I fear this may have been a day of wasted effort. As I mentioned this morning, we have no actual evidence that Adachi-san is even currently staying in the Inaba area."

Dojima shook his head. "I know," he snarled. "Trust me, I know. I know what we don't have. It just doesn't make sense. You said it yourself, the guy's probably out for revenge against the people who locked him up. If that's the case, then where the hell else would he go?"

Naoto was quiet for a long moment. "Dojima-san," she said finally. "You seem to have grown very attached to the idea of attributing some sort of revenge scheme to Adachi. If you'll recall, I never actually accused him of plotting any such thing. I only suggested that it was a possibility. It is possible that your personal feelings about Adachi may be obscuring your judgment. I know that you're worried about Nanako-chan, and about Yu-senpai as well, but again, there is, at this time, absolutely no concrete cause for that concern."

Dojima turned to glare at her. _Only twenty five years old, _he thought, _and she somehow has the balls to tell me that I'm too close to this? I've been doing this since before she was born. Long before, actually._

He thought about telling her to keep her unwanted opinions to herself. Naoto, however, continued to gaze up at him coolly, apparently totally unperturbed by the irate look on his face. Eventually, he sighed, and shook his head.

"It's not worth taking any chances," he muttered. "You and I know better than almost anybody what Adachi is capable of. If we relax our guard, even for a moment, who knows what could happen? It's my job to protect this town."

"I understand," agreed Naoto quietly. "I too, would like to prevent any tragedies such as those of ten years ago from recurring. I have fully devoted my energies and my attentions to this case. But, and you must understand this, any energy that we waste searching for nonexistent leads might be much better spent elsewhere."

_She's right, _realized Dojima. _I hate it, but she is. _"Yeah," he mumbled, "but where? What the hell am I supposed to do?"

"Perhaps," suggested Naoto, "we might spend some time creating a psychological profile of the prisoner, in order to further assist the authorities of other districts. You are probably better suited to the task than anyone else, seeing as you were his partner for so many months. Out of all of his coworkers and acquaintances, you certainly knew him the best."

"Yeah," muttered Dojima. "Only I guess I didn't know him at all. Hell of a lot of good it did me, being his partner. Didn't stop him from going after my daughter. Didn't help me solve the case any faster."

Naoto didn't seem to have anything to say in response to that. Dojima, now feeling gloomily as though he'd achieved nothing and was likely to achieve even less as the day went on, turned on his heel.

"Let's go back to the station," he said. "You're right; this is a waste of time. Maybe Narukami and Takahashi have had better luck…although I doubt it."

Just as he and Naoto were beginning to head back in the direction from which they'd come, however, Dojima heard high-heeled footsteps clicking up to him from behind.

"Excuse me," said a very pleasant, low-pitched feminine voice. "But are you Detective Dojima? I was told at the police station that I should contact a Detective Dojima in order to report any sightings of that escaped criminal that everyone has been talking about."

"Huh? Wait, you've seen him?" Instantly, Dojima turned around, to find himself face to face with one of the most incredibly attractive women he'd ever laid eyes on. Even Naoto let out a small exclamation of surprise. The woman was tall, although no doubt her delicate heels made her seem even taller. She had perfectly coiffed waves of ash-blond hair, and a pair of strangely haunting golden eyes. Her dress was conservative, careful, with a long blue skirt that fell just below her knees, and a prim white blouse that gave nothing away. She might, thought Dojima, be a teacher or a secretary, judging from the intelligent, alert way she was looking at him.

"Uh…um," he managed, momentarily lost for words.

"My name is Margaret," said the woman. "Margaret Matsumoto. I am looking for the detective in charge of this investigation. You…are the person I'm looking for, aren't you?"

"Y-yeah," mumbled Dojima. "I'm Ryotaro Dojima. Any information that you could give us would be very helpful, of course." He was having a little bit too much trouble focusing on what she was saying. Instead, he was trying not to stare. _For god's sake, _he thought, disgusted with himself. _At my age…_

For a moment, Margaret's eyes darted to Naoto, who had her mouth slightly open, as though she was about to speak. As soon as their eyes met, Naoto shut her mouth abruptly, and cleared her throat.

"If you'll excuse me, Dojima-san," said Naoto, "I feel I should be getting back to the station. I will meet up with the others and see if they've discovered anything. We'll wait for you to join us after you have finished with...ah, with Miss Matsumoto."

Then, without waiting for a response, Naoto shot one last startled look at Margaret, and hurried away. Dojima frowned, watching her go. _That was weird, _he thought. _Wonder what it was all about…_

He was distracted almost immediately by the touch of Margaret's fingers on his forearm. "Detective," she murmured. "I'd like to make a report. Oh, is that what I'm supposed to say?" She laughed, and there was something bubbly and mischievous about her laugh that Dojima instantly liked, and then just as quickly tried not to like. "I have seen the man that I think the police are looking for. I saw him just the other day. The news reports say that he is very dangerous, so I thought I had best come to the police with the information immediately."

Dojima frowned, forcing himself to focus. "You'll have to come back to the station with me, Miss Matsumoto," he informed her. "We can take your formal statement there."

Margaret nodded. "Of course, if that's what you think is best," she agreed. Falling into step beside Dojima , she continued along with him back down the sidewalk.

"Would you mind telling me where you saw Adachi?" asked Dojima. "You'll have to forgive me, but we've gotten a lot of false reports lately, of people who claim to have seen him, but are really just looking for media attention. It's kind of a headache."

"I'm sure it is," agreed Margaret.

"Maybe you can describe him for me," continued Dojima, keeping his eyes on the road in front of him. "Just so I know that I can take you seriously."

Most people, thought Dojima, would have been offended by that kind of blatant skepticism, and he knew that he should have been much more subtle. Margaret was throwing him off; he could feel it. She didn't, however, seem perturbed by his request.

"I saw him yesterday," she informed Dojima. "He was sitting on the bench at the train station, and he had his back to me. I walked over to the platform to check the time of the next train's departure into the city, and as I approached, I saw his profile from the side. If I am not very much mistaken, it was the man whom I've been seeing so much of on the news over these past few days. He had dark hair, and was very, very thin, almost emaciated, with a very pronounced bone structure and almost protruding eyes. There was something about the eyes that made me certain it was the same man, although it's hard for me to describe exactly what gave me that impression. Do you think I'm being very silly?"

_No, _thought Dojima. _I don't. _The description Margaret had just given was definitely the description of a prison inmate, and most people who thought they'd seen Adachi so far hadn't taken into account the fact that ten hard years had gone by. All the descriptions that they had given had been of the man Adachi had been ten years ago. This description was more realistic, and Dojima found himself believing it.

"The train station, huh?" he muttered, gritting his teeth. "Sounds like he might have already skipped town."

Margaret shrugged her delicate shoulders. "I can't be certain," she admitted. "I did not actually see him get on a train. Unfortunately, I didn't stay long. It only occurred to me later that night that I might have seen the criminal. I had to work up my courage before I was willing to even consider coming to the police about it."

Dojima nodded. "Well, I'm glad you did. Even if this means we've lost him, at least it's something concrete."

Suddenly, his watch alarm began beeping, and he glanced down to check the time. Apparently, it was three o'clock.

"Is something wrong?" asked Margaret.

Dojima shook his head, and switched the alarm off. "Nah," he said. "I've got this thing set to tell me when my daughter finishes school. There's a murderer running around on the loose, so I want to make sure she's home safe and out of harm's way. She'll be fine today, though. My nephew went to pick her up and take her out to dinner, or something. Glad I don't have to worry about her, for today at least."

"Hmm…" Margaret frowned. "I see." Then, her face cleared. "It must be very nice, having a reliable nephew who lives close by."

Dojima smiled. "You're right," he agreed. "It is. Helps me sleep better at night, anyway, knowing that he's around to help keep an eye on her."

They finished the rest of the walk back to the station in silence. Dojima wasn't sure if it was his imagination or not, but Margaret seemed to be frustrated about something. Then again, he decided, whatever was going on in this woman's head was none of his business.

**Chapter 40: Chapter Thirty Eight: Alone Again**

**Author's Note: **Wait, stop the presses. Nobody move. Seriously. I have discovered an amazing story, written by a incredibly talented prose artist, and we can't proceed any farther until you know about it, too.

**Warp and Weft**, by **FallingStarXan**, is a new story about an alternate universe in which the characters from P4 (Kanji, specifically) meet their genderbent, AU selves. The heroine, Kajiko, is a female version of Kanji, and honestly she's one of the better written Kanji's I've ever read. Her interaction with the male Kanji we all know and love is brilliant . I'm absolutely loving this story and I'm watching it for updates like a hawk on speed, so you should really go check it out.

Okay. You can move now. Sorry. I may have gotten a little excited.

**Chapter Thirty Eight: Alone Again**

Nanako and Yu were enjoying a couple of sodas after having finished their meal, when Naoto appeared, striding purposefully towards them through the food court.

"Uh oh," murmured Nanako. "She…doesn't look very happy."

"Yeah," agreed Yu, frowning. "I hope everything's okay."

"Senpai," called Naoto, as she neared their table. Seeing Nanako, she paused, and bit her lip. "Oh, and Nanako-chan." Suddenly, she looked uncertain. "I'm terribly sorry for interrupting your lunch."

Nanako shrugged. "It's okay!" she insisted, gesturing to an empty chair at the next table that no one appeared to be using. "Do you want to come sit with us? We just finished eating, but I can go and get another menu if you want."

"That won't be necessary, thank you," Naoto demurred. "I'm not particularly hungry. However, I do need to speak to senpai about something. It…is something of a private nature." She paused, uncomfortable. "Again, I'm sorry to have to ask you, but…"

The atmosphere was awkward, and Nanako was honestly a little bit frustrated that she was apparently being asked to leave. _Oh well, _she thought. _No point in whining about it. _There was something about the concern on Naoto's face, however, that was starting to worry Nanako as well. Naoto wasn't the type of person who usually got upset. Whatever was bothering her was usually a pretty big deal.

"It's not Dad, is it?" asked Nanako. "I mean…I know that you were with Chie and Dad at the station, and...well, he's not in trouble, is he?" _The last thing he needs right now is to be having another argument with the Chief, or making mistakes on a case, _she thought. _He's only just maybe gotten his job back for a while. It'd be awful if something went wrong right now._

"Your father is fine," Naoto assured her. "There is nothing at all for you to be concerned about. I simply have some personal business to discuss with your cousin. I doubt it would be of any interest to you."

That seemed to be all the information that Nanako was likely to get. Resignedly, she stood up from the table. "Okay," she said. "I'll go talk to Teddie, then. He looks kind of lonely over there, all by himself. I think he's handing out flyers, but nobody's been over to get one in a while. Maybe he'd like some company."

Teddie really did look delighted when he noticed Nanako walking over in his direction. "Nana-chan!" he called, waving enthusiastically and subsequently dropping all of the flyers on to the ground. "Did you finish your lunch? I was so bored over here, watching you and Sensei eating without me…I thought you were ignoring me on purpose! That hurt my beary fragile little heart…"

He pouted, and Nanako rolled her eyes, although he felt herself smiling at the same time. "Silly Teddie," she told him. "I'd never ignore you. You just looked busy when we got here, that's all. You could have come over and talked to us, you know."

Teddie sighed. "Yosuke told me not to bother you," he said. "He said that you were having 'bonding time' and that I should stay out of the way. Would I really have been in the way? Does me being around really bother you, Nana-chan?"

He twinkled hopefully at her, and Nanako laughed. "Of course not. You don't bother me at all," she promised, and she really meant it. At the moment, it was nice to have someone to talk to who wasn't trying to get rid of her in order to whisper secrets behind her back.

Glancing over her shoulder, she saw that Naoto had squeezed a little closer to Yu at the table, in order to lower her voice. Yu was looking startled and confused, and Naoto was talking very quickly, using her hands to gesticulate her point. _She did promise that it didn't have anything to do with Dad, _reflected Nanako. _Maybe it's something about the case…or about Adachi-san. Oh no, what if they've found him. But…that's not possible, is it? He's still in the Velvet Room, and no one else can get in there…I think. Can anyone else get in there? Or, what if he got out somehow and started wandering around the shopping district? Oh no, this could be really bad. There aren't any police around, though, and they'd be swarming everywhere if someone had found Adachi. I don't really understand what's going on, here…_

"Nanako," called Yu, interrupting her reverie. She looked up to find that he'd walked over to her, looking frustrated. "I'm sorry, but…I think I have to cut this short. Naoto really needs my help with something, so…I have to go. Listen, I haven't forgotten what I said. We'll do this again sometime soon, okay? Tonight, when you get home, don't worry about dinner. I'll take care of it."

"Okay." Nanako tried not to sound too disappointed. "I'll see you later, Big Bro. Be careful!"

He gave her a quick smile. "I will." Then he and Naoto hurried off together in the direction of his car.

It was only a few minutes later that Nanako realized she was unexpectedly free. Yu had gone off so suddenly that he'd forgotten about her father's orders that she come straight home after school, and he'd driven away before she'd had a chance to ask for a ride. There was always the chance, of course, that he'd be back in a matter of minutes to apologize and offer to drive her back to the Dojima residence…in fact, that was very likely to happen. _If I'm going to do this, _she told herself, _I'm going to have to make it fast!_

After saying a quick goodbye to Teddie, Nanako hurried out of the food court and around the corner towards the shopping district, where she located the Velvet Room door and quickly slipped inside.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," murmured Igor. Margaret wasn't there.

"Is Adachi-san here?" asked Nanako quickly. "He's still here, isn't he? He's not out wandering around by himself?"

"Huh?" From where he was sitting against the wall, Adachi gave Nanako a quizzical look. "Why would I want to do that? I'd just end up getting myself caught and shunted off back to lock-up. That's…not really the goal, I don't think."

Upon seeing him, Nanako breathed out a huge sigh of relief. She hadn't realized it until just then, but apparently she'd been holding her breath.

"What the hell's gotten into you?" asked Adachi. "You look pretty freaked out. Did something happen?" He didn't' sound all that interested, although there was a certain spark in his eye as he watched her that made Nanako realized just how bored he probably was in this place.

"It's nothing," she told him, shaking her head. "I'm sorry. I got confused, that's all. Oh, where's Margaret? Is it okay for me to be here? She said she had a plan to make it okay…"

Igor inclined his head. "Margaret is on an errand," he informed her. "That errand is for the purpose of making your excursions to the Velvet Room much easier than they might otherwise have been. Do not be alarmed; she will be back soon. For the moment, however, I believe your time is your own."

_So…Dad's not going to find out? _wondered Nanako. _Is that what that means? She'd better not have cast a spell on him, or used magic to make him forget, or…I' not sure this was a good idea. She promised me she wouldn't hurt him, though. Is she the sort of person who keeps her promises?_

"I guess that means it's time for more punishment," muttered Adachi, struggling to his feet. "Hey, didn't we just do this yesterday? I'm beat. Come on, Nanako-chan, how about we don't take a leaf out of your Dad's book, for once. Gimme a break. What about some time off for good behavior?"

Nanako blinked. "Time off?" she asked. "But…we only started training a couple of days ago. We haven't done that much, yet, and there's not a lot of time!"

"If you wear me out," argued Adachi, "I'll be even more useless when that time comes, right? It's not like I'm in that great shape to begin with. We don't want to overdo it."

Aware that she was probably being manipulated, Nanako frowned. There was no denying however, that Adachi had a point. He'd been dragged into this world, faced his shadow, and then started training for combat in only a matter of a few days, and even Nanako had to admit that he was looking even worse for wear than he had when she'd first encountered him, here. Yu's face suddenly bubbled up in the back of her mind, and she remembered how nice it had been just to have a chance to sit across the table from him and laugh about old times, taking a few minutes away from the struggles of the real world to relax and enjoy his company.

"Well," she mumbled hesitantly, "I guess everybody deserves a break sometimes."

Adachi looked surprised. "Yeah?" he asked. Then he grinned. "I mean, yeah, exactly. I figured you'd understand."

**Meanwhile, back in the shopping district…**

"Thanks for this," said Dojima, as he walked Margaret back down the street towards where she'd apparently left her car. "This is the first real break we've had on the case so far. Maybe it's not so big, but…it feels good to know that I haven't just been barking up the wrong tree all this time. My partner…uh, well, one of my partners keeps telling me that she doesn't think we're gonna find Adachi around here."

"But you think that he is here?" asked Margaret. "Well, if the person I saw really was this Adachi, then it seems you may be right. At least, he was here, very recently."

"Yeah," muttered Dojima, nodding. "I…can't really explain why, but I feel like he's gotta still be here. Maybe it's detective's instinct, maybe it's something else, but…I'm damn sure."

Margaret smiled, and shrugged. "I suppose that's a possibility," she admitted. "I…confess that I would sleep better at night if I was sure that he had left for good. Perhaps that would be detrimental to your investigation, Detective, but…I don't like the idea that there is a murderer running around in my town. I'm sure you understand."

"Yeah," agreed Dojima. "Of course. Makes perfect sense. Don't worry, though. We're gonna catch the guy. That's why Inaba's got policemen in the first place. It's our job."

"How very gallant of you," murmured Margaret, laughing a little bit under her breath. "Yes, that's very comforting." She looked as though she was about to say more, but something apparently distracted her, and she glanced over her shoulder at what looked to Dojima like a small figure hurrying across the street and past the Daidara and Sons Emporium. He couldn't make out the face from where he was standing, but the person looked like a high schooler, judging by the build.

Dojima gritted his teeth. "No parents should be letting their kids run around while it's getting dark outside at a time like this. I should go send that kid home, whoever it is."

Suddenly, Margaret had her hand on his arm again, and it was almost like an electric current was running along the surface of his skin as she touched him.

_I have got to get away from this woman, _he told himself. _She is doing things to my head that I was sure I'd outgrown years ago. Please tell me this is not what a mid-life crisis feels like. Damn…I don't have time for this crap._

"Detective," began Margaret, apparently losing interest in the retreating figure. "I'm very sorry that I kept you out so late. No doubt you would have been at home with your family, having dinner by now if it weren't for my 'formal statement.' I've been some real trouble, haven't I?"

"What?" Dojima shook his head, shaking her arm off of him at the same time. "Nah, it's no trouble. I already told you, you've been a big help. Not just to me, but to the whole department."

"But," insisted Margaret, "you must be hungry. Surely I can make it up to you? I thought, since it's really too late for me to cook for myself, that I'd stop by a restaurant on the way home to get some dinner. Perhaps you'd like to join me?"

"Uh…" Dojima's mind went blank. _A beautiful woman is asking you to have dinner with her, _said some distant and still functional section of the back of his brain. _A beautiful young woman is asking you to have dinner with her. That hasn't happened in…well, it hasn't happened since…since a long time ago._

Self-consciously twisting his wedding ring against his finger, Dojima shook his head. "No, it's no big deal," he insisted. "Honestly, I'm sure there are leftovers waiting in the fridge for me at home. You don't have to-!"

"Are you sure?" interrupted Margaret. She pouted attractively. Dojima felt tense and extremely uncomfortable. "It would really be my pleasure if you'd accompany me. We can toast to the future successful solution of this difficult case."

She was watching him expectantly, innocently, and Dojima was picturing Chisato's face in his head, the way she'd smiled the last time he'd gotten drunk enough to see her staring back at him out of the TV screen.

_Nope, _he told himself. _Not a chance. After all, I've got to get home to Nanako. If I'm out late at a time like this, she'll be worried about me…and she'll be mad that I made her keep a promise that I couldn't keep for myself._

"Uh, sorry," he said, shaking his head. "It's a very kind offer, but…"

Margaret sighed. "I see that I'm going to have to eat alone again tonight," she said.

Dojima bit his lip. "Well…when you put it like that," he mumbled.

**Chapter 41: Chapter Thirty Nine: Date Night, Part 1**

**Author's Note: **This chapter is in two parts! Hopefully I can get them both done today.

I've just started enjoying a new story! It's called **Persona 4: I Don't Belong Here** by **Just Charles**. I've only read the first chapter so far, but I love the style and am enjoying the interactions between the characters. It looks as though it's going to be a darker take on P4, and I encourage everybody to check it out!

**Chapter Thirty Nine: Date Night, Part One**

"This," sighed Adachi resignedly, "isn't exactly what I had in mind when I said I needed a break."

He and Nanako had left the Velvet Room, and were now standing by themselves at a crossroads in the TV world, staring around at the twisted landscape and at the various multicolored paths to potentially somewhere.

Nanako blinked at him in surprise. "What do you mean?" she asked. "If you're having a day off, isn't there somewhere you want to go? When Dad gets days off, he always talks about going into town, or even taking a trip." _Not that we ever actually take that trip_, she reminded herself. _He talks about it, at least. I know he always means it at the time… _"And anyway," she added, returning her attention to Adachi, "you looked bored. Aren't you bored?"

Adachi shrugged. "Sure, maybe," he admitted. "But seriously, it's a hell of a lot safer in here. I'd have to be crazy to give that up."

"But don't you miss the real world?" persisted Nanako. "You were in prison for ten years, and now you're stuck in here…which is, um, sort of the same thing, I guess." She flushed, realizing that maybe she shouldn't have said that out loud. After all, she wasn't really trying to encourage Adachi to escape from the Velvet Room, which was exactly what might happen if she kept up this line of questioning.

Adachi, however, remained apparently unperturbed. "I don't know if you remember that far back, Nanako-chan," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck and staring off at some point in space just past Nanako's left ear, "but there's not a hell of a lot left for me in the real world. The real world never gave enough of a shit about me to begin with. Until I got my power, it looked like life was going to be a boring, miserable wash." Shuddering for a moment, he shook his head, and added under his breath, "and now I kinda wish it had been, if we're being honest. Anyway…" He trailed off, scowling to himself, apparently lost in his own reflections.

"Um," hazarded Nanako, uncertain of the territory now that Adachi was acting so uncharacteristically serious. "But what about your family? Do you have parents, or brothers and sisters? Don't you want to go see them?"

For some reason, that made Adachi smile for a moment, although it wasn't a very nice smile. It was a miserable, wry sort of resigned smile that made the hairs stand up on the back of Nanako's neck. "I think my mom's probably still alive," he told her. "But uh…she didn't have much use for me before I got convicted. You think there's any chance she's gonna want to see me, now? Nah, she spent most of my adult life acting like she didn't have a son. Can't imagine she does much differently now than she did back then. Actually, when I got caught, probably made life a little easier for her. Hey, there's one person who I didn't piss off or mess up. That's gotta be worth some karma points, right?"

"So…are we your only family, then?' asked Nanako quietly. _That's so sad,_ she thought. _At least I still have Dad, even if I didn't get much time with Mom._

Adachi raised an eyebrow and sneered at her. "You're not family. It was just that one year, okay? Don't get so excited. Not having my mom around wasn't much of a big deal. At least she was pretty generous with her money. Come on, don't look so damn sad. You're wasting your pity."

Nanako tried not to let that comment hurt. _Of course we're not family, obviously, _she told herself, feeling stupid for having brought that up. Still, she couldn't' quite shake the picture in her mind that she'd been carrying around for ten years, of her, of Dad, Big Bro and Adachi all sitting around eating sushi at the dinner table, in the midst of a livelier and happier atmosphere than Nanako had experienced since Mom died.

"H-hey," began Adachi, sounding a bit alarmed. "I said don't be sad, didn't I? Why are you looking at me with those big puppy eyes? Jeez…uh, anyway, that's not exactly what I meant. It's not like I didn't have fun that year with you guys. So, uh…don't cry, okay?"

Suddenly, Nanako remembered the conversation she'd had with Yu about Adachi, and the way her cousin had tried to reassure her that Adachi wasn't out to seek revenge. _He said 'I think maybe he had fun with us, ten years ago. I think you, uncle Dojima and I were the part of his life that he didn't hate.'_

That did cheer her up a little bit. "I'm not going to cry," she informed Adachi, rolling her eyes. "I'm seventeen years old, not seven." Still, her heart felt a little lighter.

"Right, well," mumbled Adachi quickly, "we were talking the real world. Isn't it kind of a moot point? If I go out there, and someone sees me, the game's over."

"Not if we go somewhere far away, that no one will recognize you," countered Nanako, who had been thinking very carefully about this. "There are TVs all over the world, right? We could go out through a TV that's somewhere else in Japan. People in Inaba know our face, but the rest of Japan is a big place where no one will be paying attention. We could at least try it."

"Oh, I get it." He grinned at her. "And if someone does recognize me, that'll start people talking about how I've already left Inaba, and then your Dad might get off your back. Hey, you're pretty smart."

Nanako tried not to glow with pride. "Uh, so," she asked, "is there anywhere you want to go?"

For the first time, Adachi actually gave that some thought. "Well," he mused after a moment's hesitation, "it's been a hell of a long time since I've eaten anything that tasted like food."

"Okay!" Nanako nodded. "Then, um, all we need to do is figure out how we get out to another part of Japan…like, maybe the big city? Oh, or is that too close? How about another big city, like, uh…oh, there are lots of places we could go."

_But…how do we get out of here? _She wondered. _Oh, maybe I should ask Igor. I'm sure he knows._

**Meanwhile, in Okina city….**

Dojima was out of his depth. "When you mentioned going to a restaurant," he mumbled, "I was thinking something like Aiya, or maybe one of the other local diners. This is, uh, pretty fancy, by my standards. Do you…go to places like this a lot?"

After Margaret had suggested, or rather coerced him into joining her for dinner, she'd driven them both into Okina, where she'd selected a reasonably high-end Thai restaurant that had only recently sprung up a few blocks from the movie theater. Staring down at the menu, Dojima wondered frantically to himself how he was going to end up paying for two dishes, not to mention probably an appetizer, and god forbid a dessert. _Then again_, he asked himself, _is it really my job to pay for everything? After all, she was the one that made this suggestion, and she did say that we're only doing this so that she can make it up to me for keeping me out late at the station. But…I can't make a lady pay. That's…that's just not the way these things are done. Or, anyway, that's not how we did dates when I was young. Maybe things are different now. Should have asked Yu about this. He's been on plenty of dates, with a ton of the local girls. Almost had to say something to him about that before he finally settled down with Satonaka. People were starting to talk. Uh, hang on, is this even a date?_

The word 'date' enlarged horribly in the back of Dojima's mind, filling it up and taking up all the available space that wasn't already occupied with panic. He dropped the menu, and also the napkin that he'd been playing with. Margaret glanced up from her menu, and raised an eyebrow.

"Have you decided?" she asked.

"Not yet," mumbled Dojima. "Uh…what are you having?"

Margaret frowned that pretty little frown of hers again. "I am not sure," she admitted. "I was considering the Thai fried rice, but it's so fattening…I really shouldn't put on any more weight."

That comment, of course, had the effect of drawing Dojima's attention to Margaret's figure. _Gah!_ He thought, forcing his eyes back down towards the table top.

"Well, if you're really worried about that stuff," he muttered, when the fact-based, detective section of his brain finally had mercy on him and kicked in, "just order a half portion. Or, uh, tell you what, why don't we split the fried rice? Then you won't have to worry about, uh…about watching your weight."

_What am I saying? _he asked himself. _Now we're actually sharing a dish? Still…that'll decrease the size of the bill, and my wallet's pretty empty after we went all out on the wedding party. This is probably for the best…_

Margaret beamed at him. "That's so considerate of you," she said. "Yes, maybe it would be a good idea to share for tonight."

"If you really want to lose some weight," he heard himself saying, "then we should probably both skip the booze. You're driving, later, anyway."

_Stop talking about her weight!_ screamed the back of his mind. He closed his mouth and began looking around the room for something, anything to distract him and to keep him from putting his foot in his mouth yet again. Fortunately, his watch chose that moment to begin beeping, and he glanced down at it to see that it was already after eight o'clock.

_Nanako_, he thought miserably, grimacing. _This really hasn't been one of my best parenting nights. I'm sorry._

"Detective," murmured Margaret, "is something wrong?"

"Nah, it's nothing," he muttered, shaking his head. "Sorry. I'm not trying to be a bad guest." Still, he didn't take his eyes off the watch. _At least she's had dinner with Yu already, _he reminded himself. _And it's not like she'd starve to death without me. She's already seventeen years old. I'm lucky that she comes home at all, these days. Still…the idea of her sitting there alone, while her cousin goes off to mess around with his friends and do god knows what…I hope she's not lonely. I really should be there with her, especially at a time like this. She might be frightened. The news is doing its best to play up this Adachi thing like he really is out for somebody's blood._

"You're worried about your daughter, aren't you?" Margaret asked.

That got Dojima's full attention. He looked up at her in surprise, then sighed. "Yeah, I guess so. I told you about her already, didn't I? Just…doesn't feel right, leaving her alone when there's a murderer on the loose. Maybe I'm overprotective. I mean…I guess I know that's true. It's better than getting caught off guard, though. Not worth taking any chances. Not with my daughter."

"I'm sure she's all right," insisted Margaret. "You did say that she was with your nephew. Besides, if I really did see the criminal at the train station, then perhaps there's nothing to worry about anymore. That does seem likely, given the circumstances we discussed."

"Yeah," muttered Dojima. "I know. Frankly, though, that doesn't make me worry any less." He frowned, and shook his head. "Like I said before…I'm sorry. Guess I'm terrible company. You don't want to be talking about this stuff."

Margaret didn't say anything for a moment. Then, her eyes seemed to soften, and she gave him a new, much gentler kind of smile. "You love her very much, don't you?" she asked.

Dojima nodded. "She's all I've got," he said. "She's...well, she's a lot more than I deserve, too."

Margaret bit her lip. "I doubt she feels that way," she murmured. "I would imagine that your daughter would feel very lucky to have you as a father. She'd be very protective of you, I think. Maybe she learned that from you."

"Protective, huh?" Dojima laughed. "Yeah, that does sound like Nanako. Maybe I did rub off on her, a bit. Not too much, I hope."

"She's a lucky girl," repeated Margaret. At that moment, the waiter came by to take their orders.

**Chapter 42: Chapter Forty: Date Night, Part 2**

**Author's Note: **In response to recent reminder from a reader; yes, the events of Arena did take place within the universe of this story. We won't, however, be seeing the Persona 3 characters in this story, at this time. I'll explain why nobody seems to remember what happened during Arena, although we won't get that full reveal until closer to the end. I like to try and keep things as canon as possible, so incorporating, to some extent, all canon storylines is the plan.

Thanks to **Supernova23** for reminding me to clear that up.

Oh, and, uh…sorry, but looks like I was wrong. This chapter is going to be in three parts, not two. Sorry. I've never been good at figuring out how long these things will or won't get. Next up: the conclusion to the Dojima/Margaret date! Oh, and don't worry, we'll get back to the slightly more action-packed persona part, soon. That's a promise.

**Chapter Forty: Date Night, Part Two**

After a hasty conversation with Naoto, Yu and she parted ways, and Yu drove as quickly as he could over to the shopping district where Naoto claimed to have seen Margaret. Not surprisingly, Dojima and Margaret were no longer there.

_She said that he'd be taking Margaret back to the police station_, thought Yu, glancing down at his watch. _A statement wouldn't take that long, though. They'll be done by now._

What was bothering him wasn't really that Margaret was out and hanging around town. He'd actually seen her before, on more than one occasion, taking in the sights and sounds of Inaba. Once, she'd even showed up at his high school festival, pretending to be a fortune teller. _It probably gets boring in the Velvet Room, _he reasoned. _Even Margaret probably needs people to talk to besides Igor now and then._

What was upsetting Yu was rather what Naoto had told him about Margaret's claim to have seen Adachi. There was absolutely no reason Yu could think of why Margaret would go blabbering about Adachi to the police, especially since, as far as Yu knew, Adachi was stuck in the Velvet Room in Margaret and Igor's custody. They had big plans for Adachi, or so they'd claimed, and so their plans would go all kinds of haywire if the police captured Adachi and brought him back to prison. Even if they could just pull him out through the Velvet Room a second time, it would still be a time-wasting setback.

_No, _realized Y u, _the only reason that Margaret would be out talking to the police about Adachi is…that Adachi's escaped from the Velvet Room, and has struck out on his own. She's probably worried that she's lost control over him, and that he's dangerous now. If that's the case, then what I said to Nanako may have been wrong. We may all actually be in danger after all, and if we are, it's my fault for trusting Adachi, Margaret, and Igor enough to let things get this out of control. It's just like Chie said. This is my failure, as a leader, because I put my faith in the wrong people. I can't let anyone suffer for this mistake._

With that firmly in mind, Yu abruptly changed course and headed for the Velvet Room. He stepped through the door and slammed it behind him, looking up to see Igor staring at him with startled uncertainty in his usually complacent eyes.

"Where's Adachi?" demanded Yu. He knew he was being loud and rude, but for the moment he didn't care. "And where's Margaret?"

"Please," murmured Igor, "calm yourself. There is no cause for concern."

"Just answer the question," mumbled Yu, his mind racing. "Please. Where are they?"

Igor frowned. "Adachi, I believe, is in the midst of his training to take on the mantle of the Wild Card. His exact location, at this time, is unknown to me, although I am certain that he is, as always, well attended."

"So," insisted Yu, "then Margaret is with him?"

For some reason, Igor paused a second before answer that. "Margaret," he said slowly, "is on an errand in your world. I am not sure at what time she will return."

None of these were the answers that Yu wanted to hear. "My friend told me that she saw Margaret with my uncle Dojima, talking to him about Adachi," he said. "Why did Margaret go to the police in my world? Did Adachi escape? I don't have time for half-answers, right now. If he's out there, then we have to catch him, and fast, before anything else can go wrong."

"Please," insisted Igor, "do not be alarmed. He has not escaped. Then again, he is not precisely a prisoner. Adachi-san is free to leave us at the time of his choosing."

Yu could feel himself starting to panic, and tried to maintain some sort of tentative hold on his anger. "How the hell is that supposed to make me feel any better?" he shouted.

**Meanwhile, in Tokyo City…**

Nanako watched in some disgust while Adachi shoved a series of sushi rolls into his mouth in such rapid succession that she was positive he hadn't tasted any of them.

"You shouldn't eat like that," she informed him, wrinkling her nose. "You'll make yourself sick, or you'll choke. Maybe both."

"Mmph," mumbled Adachi around a sushi roll. "Huh? Oh, uh, heh, sorry. Damn, I haven't had food this good since before Inaba. The sushi you guys have there is terrible…but hey, anything beats prison food."

Hesitantly, Nanako selected a salmon roll from the midst of the carnage that was the serving platter. Unfortunately, the sushi had arrived with the wasabi already included. She contemplated whether or not it was worth eating.

"Oh." Adachi swallowed whatever was in his mouth, reached over, and picked the sushi roll right off of her plate. "Hey, you don't like wasabi, right? Uh, I think I've got a knife here somewhere…or maybe a napkin." He wiped the wasabi off of the roll, and plopped it back down on Nanako's plate. She stared at it.

"Ew," she said. "I don't want it now that you've had your fingers all over it."

Adachi looked surprised. "Hey, what gives? I was just making it the way you like it."

"I can do it myself," muttered Nanako, pushing the tainted sushi roll as far as she could over to one side of the plate, and reaching for another from the serving platter. "I'm not a little kid anymore, remember?"

"Oh," agreed Adachi, nodding. "Right. Hey, sorry. Although, honestly? If you're really trying to be such an adult, maybe you should just eat the wasabi. I mean…isn't wiping the sauce off kind of a kid thing, anyway?"

Nanako wasn't quite sure what to say to that, although she felt herself reddening behind the napkin that she hastily held up to hide her face.

"You eat like a pig," she told him.

Adachi grinned at her. "You eat like a little kid," he retorted. "This restaurant is way too fancy for either of us. Uh, how are we gonna pay for this, anyway? You're not planning on dining and dashing, right? Cause that's no way to keep a low profile, and the cops around here are a lot quicker than the ones in your part of town."

"Igor gave me money." Nanako pulled out the blue velvet purse that she'd received from Igor when she'd gone back to get directions about how to leave the TV world. "He says he gave it to me because this is part of your 'training.'"

"Dining out on old long-nose, huh?" Adachi shrugged. "Okay, I can deal with that."

It was only a little time later, when Adachi had decimated his sushi and Nanako was still picking away at her selections that the people at the next table began muttering to themselves. "Hey," whispered one woman a bit too loudly to the man seated next to her. "Doesn't that man just behind us look a little bit like the one we saw on TV the other night?"

The man she'd been addressing craned his neck to glance at Adachi over his shoulder. "You mean, the escaped prisoner?" he asked the woman. "You know, now that you mention it…you're right, it looks just like him. You don't think it could be the same guy, do you? We have to do something…should we call the police?"

"What about that girl he's with?" asked the woman, starting to sound more and more excited. "That prisoner was a killer, wasn't he? Of young girls? Wasn't he some kind of pervert? Oh my god, what if she's his next victim? Do you think he kidnapped her? I need to get to my cell phone, hang on."

Adachi's hands closed into fists, and he took a deep, exasperated breath. "Figures," he muttered. "Looks like we've been spotted. So, now what? Maybe dining and dashing wasn't such a bad idea after all…"

As Nanako opened her mouth to reply, she saw the muscles in Adachi's face harden, and his whole body tensed up as he prepared apparently, to fight or flee. Something of that old, vicious eagerness came back into his eyes. _He looks like a cornered animal, about to bear his teeth_, thought Nanako. _I think I saw the neighborhood cat acting like that once, when it got chased by a dog. He's scared, that's all. When he gets scared, he has to fight, just like an animal does._

The woman at the other table had apparently found her cell phone, and was in the process of dialing a number. Nanako thought fast. Grabbing Adachi's hand across the table, she put on her best obnoxious pout, and whined, "But Dad, why can't I go to the party with the other girls? Mai-chan and Ino-chan are going! You're always so strict, it's just not fair!" She stomped her foot, trying to make the tantrum a bit more realistic.

"Wha…wait, what?" snarled Adachi. "What the hell are you-?"

"Oh," murmured the woman with the cell phone. "Oh, but…the criminal didn't have a daughter, did he? Oh dear, I think I almost made a terrible mistake…how embarrassing!"

She shoved her cell phone back into her purse, and hastily launched into a nervous conversation about the weather with the man at her table. Adachi blinked, stared for a moment, and then muttered, "Uh…is that it?"

Nanako still had her hand on his. She patted it reassuringly. "It's okay now," she informed him. "I think she gave up on you."

A few moments passed in awkward silence, while Nanako finished her sushi and watched Adachi's shoulders slowly relax and his whole body slightly deflate. Eventually, his eyes cleared, and she could see that he had at least stopped panicking.

"Really?" he asked eventually. "Dad? Come on, I'm not nearly old enough to be your Dad. What is he, like sixty years old? Seriously…"

"Check, please," said Nanako, as the waiter wandered by. As soon as the waiter had left, she turned back to Adachi. "Dad's fifty five, "she told him. "And actually…you are old enough. I checked. The news says you're thirty seven."

"Nngh," mumbled Adachi miserably. "Fine."

**Chapter 43: Chapter Forty One: Date Night, Part 3**

**Author's Note: **And finally, part three! Sorry for the wait.

Oh, and another self-plug today. If you haven't already, I'd be thrilled if you'd take the time to check out **Daydreams**, my little collection one-shots and stories related to **Dreamgirl.** I even did a quick little Kanji x Naoto in there the other day!

Now we've gotten to the end of our epic emotional overload, get excited! Our intrepid heroes are about to make yet another foray into the TV world, and we're about to learn something new and important about the nature of the new evil that's dogging them! Stay tuned!

**Chapter Forty One: Date Night, Part 3**

Eventually, however, the conversation stagnated. About halfway through waiting for the fried rice to arrive, Dojima realized that he'd been rambling on about Nanako for almost twenty minutes, and clammed up in embarrassment.

"Sorry," he muttered. "Guess I've said enough about that. Dunno what Nanako would do to me if she found out I was going on about her like this…she hates it when I tell family stories and stuff to strangers."

Margaret smiled. "I think most children feel that way," she said. "My younger sister does not particularly enjoy when I tell stories of our youth to other people, either. Perhaps she's ashamed, although I can't think of what there is to be ashamed of. After all, everyone is a child at some point. Those are the precious years. When we talk about them, we are only trying to celebrate them. Isn't that so?"

"Oh, you've got a kid sister?" asked Dojima. It occurred to him, not for the first time, that he had no idea how old Margaret was. "Uh, how old is she?" he asked, hoping that it might give him some clue as to what age range Margaret fell into.

For some reason, Margaret's smile wavered for a moment. "She is…well, younger than me," she murmured. "Although, it…is rather complicated."

Dojima frowned. "Complicated, huh? Do you guys have different parents, or something?"

"I suppose it could be looked at that way," replied Margaret. Shaking her head, she coughed politely, and then laughed quietly to herself. "I don't think I should tell you. After all, a lady never tells a gentleman her age. If I told you all about me, wouldn't that destroy some of the mystery?"

_I hate mysteries_, thought Dojima. _Surprises are one thing, but the word mystery…it always ends up meaning something sinister. I'm perfectly happy without any of that crap._

"Or," continued Margaret smoothly, "perhaps you should tell me more about yourself. I've learned a great deal about Miss Nanako, but I don't seem to know anything about you, Detective. You fascinate me, really, although I'm sure you knew that already. Why else would I have invited you out to dinner, if not to learn more about you?"

That had Dojima at a loss…again. "There's, uh…there's not too much to tell," he mumbled. "I'm not exactly a 'fascinating' kind of guy."

"Tell me anyway," insisted Margaret. "Would it be easier if I asked questions? Oh my, this really is beginning to feel more and more like a first date."

_Tell me about it, _thought Dojima miserably. Margaret gave him a light little laugh.

"Well, I'll ask you, then," she began. "Let's see…how long have you been a detective? Have you always lived in Inaba?"

"Yeah," replied Dojima. "Lived here most of my life. My parents moved here when I was six or seven, so I guess you could say I grew up here. As for being a detective…well, yeah, I started off as a cop right out of school. Spent an extra two years at the police academy after breaking couple of rules with some friends on my scooter and getting suspended for two whole semesters. Parents weren't too happy about that…"

Margaret raised an eyebrow at him. "It sounds as though you were a bit of a troublemaker, then."

Thinking back to those days in school, Dojima imagined the looks on his and his friends' faces when they'd been called in to face authority after having been caught making liquor store runs for the rest of the cadets on their scooters after dark. As far as he could remember, their faces then had looked a hell of a lot like the ones on the kids he dragged into the station every now and then for shoplifting or breaking curfew. _Guess some things never change, _he thought, grinning to himself.

"Does your daughter know about that side of you?" asked Margaret, snapping Dojima back out of his reverie. He rubbed sheepishly at the back of his neck.

"I sure hope not," he told her. "Still, I may have mentioned it to my nephew, once, and I bet he's said something to her about it, so I'm probably screwed."

"Oh dear." Margaret shook her head in mock disapproval. "And here you are, pretending to be a reliable authority figure with a past like that. I'm almost ashamed of you, Dojima-san." She was still smiling, which took the sting out of her words.

"You, uh…can call me Ryotaro," Dojima heard himself tell her. "I mean…you know, given the circumstances, seems a little weird for you to be so formal about it."

"Ryotaro, then," agreed Margaret, nodding. She lifted up her glass. "Shall we toast, then, to a chance to become more familiar with one another?"

A little shockwave shot across Dojima's shoulders. _I'd like that, _he thought, although he managed not to say it. "It's bad luck to toast with water," he muttered instead.

"Oh, I don't believe in luck," Margaret informed him, taking a sip. "I'm certain that our meeting this way has nothing to do with luck at all. This must be fate."

The waiter arrived with the food, and Dojima took a few moments to portion out the meal onto two plates, as he'd promised.

"Fate, huh?" he mumbled to himself, as Margaret began delicately picking at her rice.

They enjoyed the rest of the meal, and the subsequent companionable conversation. After paying the bill, Dojima looked down at his watch and discovered to his alarm that it was after ten o'clock.

"I've gotta get home," he said, wondering what on Earth he was going to say to Nanako about this. "Sorry."

"It's no trouble," insisted Margaret, getting up from her seat. "I'll drive you there, if you don't mind the company. After all, I'd hate to make you take the train at this hour."

They drove together back to Dojima's home. He was half-relieved and half-surprised to see that all the lights in the house were already out. _Maybe she's gone to sleep already, _he reasoned. _Guess I could always just say I had to stay late at work. Wouldn't be the first time that's happened. Still…doesn't feel right, saying something like that. Can't teach honesty to a kid if I don't practice it myself. This isn't gonna be a fun conversation…although, I could probably get away with saying that I had dinner with a work contact. That's sort of what happened. That is what happened. That's…ugh, what a mess._

"Is this it?" asked Margaret, pulling up right outside the house.

"Yeah," muttered Dojima. "Thanks."

For a moment, he and Margaret sat next to each other in the car, in the midst of an awkward silence.

"I had a very nice time this evening," said Margaret eventually. "Thank you so much for joining me…Ryotaro."

"Right," agreed Dojima. "I mean…yeah, I had fun, too."

_This is the part where I invite her inside, _he realized. She was looking at him expectantly, as though waiting for an invitation. His heart started beating a bit faster at the thought, and he drummed his fingers against his knees, shaking his head. _Yeah, that's…that's not going to happen. Sorry._

"Goodnight," he said instead, pulling the door open. "Drive safe on your way home."

"Goodnight," murmured Margaret. He couldn't tell from her face whether she was disappointed or not.

**Meanwhile, in Nanako's room…**

Nanako fell through the TV in her own bedroom, and sat on the floor for a moment, panting quietly. She and Adachi had hurried straight back through the TV world, following Igor's instructions to the exit that would lead her out into her own home. Nanako had been in a hurry, frantically hoping that whatever trick Margaret had played was still in effect, considering how late it had gotten. They'd bypassed the Velvet Room entirely, and she was frustrated that she hadn't had a chance to either thank Igor for his help, to return his extra money, or to question Margaret as to what exactly she'd done to secure Nanako's freedom.

_Well, _she thought, _now's as good a time as any! I'd better go downstairs and see if Dad's angry or not…_

It was only then that she heard the front door close, and footsteps padding hesitantly across the kitchen floor.

For a moment, Nanako assumed that she was listening to the sounds of Yu coming back from an outing with his friends. The sounds she heard, however, were almost definitely those of her Dad's heavy shoes. Yu was always much quieter when he walked. He was the only one in the family who ever had a hope of sneaking up on Nanako, even when she was distracted and watching TV.

"Dad?" she asked hesitantly, hurrying down the stairs. "Um…hi."

Dad froze instantly in the doorway upon seeing her. For a moment, if Nanako hadn't known him better, she would have been sure that Dad was…well, scared.

"N-Nanako!' he stammered "What are you doing awake? I thought you'd gone to bed already. Um…sorry I'm so late."

Nanako frowned. "It's only a little after ten. I'm not sleepy yet. Besides, I've got homework," she informed him. "Where were you?"

Dad didn't answer that for a moment. He swallowed, nodded to himself, and then mumbled, "Had dinner with someone from work. I…guess I didn't realize how late it was."

Nanako sighed. "Dad, you can't keep Naoto-san and Takahashi-san out all night talking about the case," she admonished him. "It's not fair…they probably get tired and want to go home at the end of the day."

"Yeah," agreed Dad. "Right. You're right, Nanako. Sorry. It, uh, it won't happen again."

_Well, _reasoned Nanako, as Dad hurried past her to get a glass of water from the kitchen. _I guess at least this means he didn't know I wasn't here. That's something good. _Remembering Margaret's promise to help her stay out of trouble, Nanako bit her lip, and gave her dad a long, searching look.

"Are you feeling okay?" she asked him. "Um..you're not feeling sick, or too tired or anything, are you?"

"Huh?" Dad turned around and gave her a startled look. "No, I'm fine. Why are you asking? Do I look sick?"

Feeling a little relieved, Nanako shook her head. "No, daddy," she told him, smiling. "You look fine. Um…I'm going to bed. Night!"

She did not, however, go to bed. Since she'd been out all evening, she had to stay up for quite some time doing homework. She was, therefore, wide awake when the door opened audibly again, and she could hear the beginnings of a conversation taking place downstairs.

"Hey," said Dad. "You were out late."

"Yeah," mumbled Yu, sounding frustrated. "Sorry, uncle Dojima."

"Don't apologize to me," replied Dad. "Apologize to your wife. She probably went to bed hours ago. You're an adult, now, Yu. I won't try to tell you how to behave, but if you're planning on being a family man, this late night partying crap isn't gonna work. You get that, right?"

"Right," agreed Yu, far too complacently. He didn't sound anything like his usual upbeat self. "I'll…I'll go talk to her right away, if she's still awake. Night, uncle."

**Not long after, in Dojima's room…**

After making sure that the rest of his family had gone off to their own rooms for the evening, Dojima retreated to his own. He felt relieved and ridiculously guilty at the same time, and headed to bed as soon as he had his clothes off, desperate for some sleep that would hopefully clear his head. Unfortunately, sleep eluded him for over an hour, as he tossed, turned, and tried not to think too hard about Adachi, Margaret, and everything else that had suddenly cropped up lately in his life. The fact that he'd poured a cup of coffee to help calm him down before sleeping certainly didn't' help.

The clock on the bedside table beeped at him, informing him that it was midnight. Almost simultaneously, the TV screen began crackling and came to life again. Chisato's face looked out at him through the screen, and Dojima was sure that he saw hurt and betrayal in her soft, usually so gentle eyes.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, pleading with her and running his fingers along the edges of his wedding ring. "I…I don't know what got into me. Look, it's never going to happen again. Believe me, you'll always be the only woman in my heart. I mean that. I'll always mean that."

Chisato frowned, and shook her head. She parted her lips as though she was about to say something, and then, horribly, the TV suddenly flickered off again and her image disappeared from the screen.

"Goddamnit," muttered Dojima, falling back against the bed and shoving the pillow down over his head.

**Chapter 44: Chapter Forty Two: Worries**

**Author's Note: **I've been going through my outlines, and I think I'm going to publish a short, Adachi-centric prequel story to **Dreamgirl** as a sort of character/backstory study. We're looking at a totally different Adachi from the one I wrote in **Bondswoman**, so it might help clear a few things up. And it's inspired by Shakespeare! I mean…what could be bad, right?

Please keep an eye out, for it!

**Chapter Forty Two: Worries**

The next morning, Yu found himself with nothing to do. He was still waiting to hear back from several of the shops and business to which he'd applied, but he wasn't nearly focused enough to be able to spend any time job-hunting. The whole situation with Margaret and Adachi was proving far too distracting, and it wasn't long before he found himself sitting in the Junes food court, drinking a soda and nursing a headache. For once Yosuke and Teddie didn't seem to be working outside. Yu was alone with his thoughts for a bit too long.

Just as he started getting hungry, and begin considering ordering something to take the edge off of that feeling, Yu noticed a girl sitting down at a table across the way. She was slight, with long, pale curly hair, and there was a video camera resting in front of her on the table top.

_That's her, isn't it? _he asked himself, standing up and walking over to get a closer look. "Excuse me," he said, "Um…it's Moto-san, isn't it? I'm Yu Narukami…we met the other day at the TV station."

Suzume Moto glanced up at him, and gave him a weak little smile. "Oh, of course," she said, nodding and gesturing at one of the unoccupied chairs. "I remember. And…you can call me Suzume. I'd like that. After all, any friend of Yosuke's is a friend of mine."

_Sure didn't seem that way, judging by the way you kept putting him off the last time we met, _thought Yu. "Are you waiting for someone?" he asked. "I don't want to intrude."

Suzume shook her head. "You're not intruding," she insisted. "I'm not waiting for anyone. I have a long lunch break today, so I thought I'd eat out, for once. I usually just make my lunches at home, and they never taste very good. Eating out is a special treat for me."

"I'll get a menu," suggested Yu. Suzume nodded, and waited while he crossed the food court and returned again with the menu. "Actually," he went on, as casually as he could, "I was sorta hoping that I'd see Yosuke, here. Um, do you know when he gets off work?"

"Oh." Suzume frowned. "I think his shift's over around noon, actually. You've still got a little while to wait."

That, at least, was encouraging. _Hey, _reflected Yu, _she knows when his shift's over. Maybe she has been paying a little bit more attention to him than I thought. Then again, maybe she knows what hours he works so that she can avoid him. Wait, why am I even worrying about this? It's not like he asked me to scope her out for him, or anything. I'm sticking my neck out for no reason, here._

Still, Yu remembered the sickening delight on Yosuke's face as he'd watched Suzume walking towards them that day at the TV station. The image sent a little shiver down his spine. It was so similar to the one that he still had in his head from ten years ago, when he'd first been introduced to Saki at this same food court.

_There's a reason, _he decided. _He's my partner. I have his back, both in battle and in, uh, matters of the heart. Is that the phrase I'm looking for?_

"So,' he asked, over and around his thoughts, when it became clear that Suzume wasn't going to introduce her own topic of conversation. "Maybe this is a weird question to ask, but…how did you and Yosuke meet?"

Suzume's smile broadened a bit. "No, it's not weird," she reassured him. "We met here, actually. Um…well, this is a bit embarrassing, but…I collapsed."

Yu was startled. "You collapsed?"

"Yes." Suzume sighed. "You see, I'm not very strong or healthy. I get tired very easily, and I can't spend too much time outside or I start to wear down. I know, it sounds pathetic, but, that's just the way it is. It's always been like that."

"Oh," muttered Yu. "I'm sorry to hear that. It sounds tough."

"No, it's all right," insisted Suzume, shaking her head. "It's just, sometimes I overdo it a little. Especially when it comes to work, I like to give it one hundred percent!" She gave him an enthusiastic little grin, which somehow managed only to make her look even more exhausted and dispirited than she had moments ago.

_She doesn't smile with her eyes, _Yu realized. _Its' just the rest of her face that moves. Her eyes always look tired._

"Once, I came to Junes to film a story," Suzume was saying, "but I'd skipped lunch in order to finish a few things up at the station. Before I knew it, I was starting to feel faint, and…well, I collapsed. Right here, in the food court. It was…mortifying. Yosuke-kun was really very nice about it, though. He bought me something to eat, and took me back to the station, and promised me that it wasn't any trouble. He's a really good guy."

"You don't have to convince me," agreed Yu. "He's one of the most reliable people I know."

Suzume nodded. "That's good to hear," she murmured. "I'm glad I didn't get the wrong impression about him."

Frowning suddenly, Suzume glanced down at her watch. "Oh," she said. "I really should go…it's a long walk back to the station. I guess I didn't have as much time as I thought…"

"But you haven't eaten yet," remarked Yu. "I can drive you back, if that would help."

Again, Suzume smiled, but shook her head. "No thank you," she said, "but it's very kind of you to offer. Yosuke was right…you're a good friend to have."

She stood up from the table, and collected her camera. Like a gentleman, Yu stood up as well.

"I'll see you again, I'm sure," she told him, turning on to leave.

"On Friday, right?" Yu reminded her. "At our party."

"Oh." Suzume paused for a moment. "Oh, that's right. Of course. Friday, then."

Mere moments after Suzume disappeared around the corner, Yosuke stepped out into the food court. Catching sight of Yu almost immediately, he waved and hurried over.

"Hey, partner!" called Yosuke. "What are you doing here? Cool, I didn't think you'd come by, today. You hungry? Let me guess ; anything but steak, right? I bet being married to Chie means you eat steak all the time. You're in luck, though. Our grill's broken, or something, so grilled steak is off the menu for today. Anything else strike your fancy?"

Briefly, Yu contemplated telling Yosuke that Suzume had just been and gone. In the end, though, he decided not to bring it up. _He'll probably just mope about it, _Yu decided, _and wonder what it means that she didn't stop in to say hello. Actually, I'm not totally sure what that means, myself. I can't tell if she's interested or not, and I can usually tell. She's…different, that's for sure._

"Actually," said Yu, "I was wondering…do you have a minute?"

Yosuke frowned. "Sure, a minute, yeah, but…I'm on the clock, so I can't hang around out here for too long. What's up? Did something happen?"

As succinctly as he could, Yu outlined the events of the day before, telling Yosuke all about Margaret's chat with Dojima, about Naoto's visit, and about how he'd tried to get the truth out of Igor to no avail. Yosuke's face hardened as he listened to the story, and Yu could almost hear his best friend grinding his teeth together every time Adachi's name entered the monologue.

"Shit," muttered Yosuke, when Yu had finished. "You think he's really out? Do you think those Velvet Room guys are playing us? Can they even do that? I thought there were, like, rules or something. Isn't that what you said before?"

Yu bit his lip. "I don't know exactly how it works," he admitted. "I'm not sure what those 'rules' really are. All I do know is that Margaret is acting strangely, that Igor is hiding something, and that Adachi wasn't there when I went to check last night. Nothing feels or seems right. I'm…I'm starting to get scared. What if I was wrong about what's happening, here? I feel like maybe I've let everybody down."

Yosuke clapped a reassuring hand onto Yu's left shoulder. "Hey, come on," he insisted, obviously forcing himself to sound a bit more cheerful than he really felt. "It's not like any of us would look at it that way, right? Jeez, this wouldn't be the first time Adachi's fooled someone into letting their guard down. Besides, you're freaking out over nothing, maybe. I mean, we don't even know what's really going on. Before we start panicking, we've got to get the facts. Then, if we've gotta kick some ass, we'll do it. Okay? So quit looking so damn miserable, the rest of the customers'll think there's something wrong with your food."

Yu felt himself starting to smile. "I haven't ordered any food," he reminded Yosuke.

Yosuke shrugged. "Yeah, good point. So, let's order something now. Come on, there's no way you can really pass up the chance to have the Junes regional manager wait on you personally, right? So? What's it gonna be?"

"You don't have to act like this, you know." Yu pushed the menu away. "As though nothing's wrong, I mean. I know how angry this whole Adachi thing has to be making you. You don't have to hold back."

For a moment, there was a flash of frustration in Yosuke's eyes. "Oh yeah?" he asked. "Really? Because, the way I see it, if I go flying off the handle and starting cursing his name and vowing to kill him and stuff, that's not really gonna make you feel any better. The only way we're gonna solve this thing is if you're at the helm, and if you're down in the dumps, that's not gonna achieve anything. Doesn't seem like the right time for me to start spouting vengeful crap and making you feel even worse."

Yu opened his mouth, but couldn't figure out exactly what he wanted to say. "Um…thanks," he mumbled.

"No problem," replied Yosuke, a bit more forcefully than maybe he indeed. "So…instead of getting pissed off about the past, let's try and figure out the future, okay? If we gotta catch the guy again, we'll catch him. It's what we do."

Glancing over his shoulder, Yosuke sighed. "Listen, I have to go back to work. When I get off shift, though, you and I are going into the TV world, and we're getting some answers. We're not gonna leave until we're sure we know what's going on. You got that?"

"Got it," agreed Yu.

"Okay. Great." Yosuke nodded, gave Yu one more encouraging little buffet on the shoulder, then turned around and headed back inside the store.

"I…guess I never noticed it before," murmured a familiar female voice from behind Yu. "Yosuke-kun's grown up into such a good man. Oh, but I shouldn't say things like that…It sounds a bit condescending."

Yu turned around to see Yukiko perched on one of the chairs, still wearing one of the kimonos that Kanji had made for her and the waitresses at the Inn.

"I know what you mean," insisted Yu. "And you're right. He's…honestly being a lot more mature about this than I ever expected."

"I think he deserves a bit more credit than we've been giving him, don't you?" asked Yukiko.

"Yeah." Yu took a deep breath. "You're right. Anyway, what are you doing here? I thought you were still working at the Inn. It's not even noon yet."

Yukiko gave him a wry smile. "I asked one of the waitresses to cover for me," she informed him. "It was sort of an emergency. Chie called me in the middle of the night, and…well, she sounded pretty upset."

Yu winced. He had a pretty good guess of what was coming next.

"She's terribly worried about you," said Yukiko.

"Yeah…I know," admitted Yu quietly. "I…I'm sorry."

**Chapter 45: Chapter Forty Three: Together or Alone**

**Author's Note: **Again, I'm not too happy with this chapter. I may go back and rework it (again), but for the moment, let's proceed with the story. There's big exciting things coming up in the next chapter.

**Chapter Forty Three: Together or Alone**

Dojima wasn't feeling at his best when he walked into the station the next morning. He'd been up all night, trying not to imagine the terribly disappointed look that he'd seen on Chisato's face in the TV. Having been unable to sleep, he was at least up early enough to be ready and waiting when Chie hurried downstairs for breakfast, and they'd driven together to work, in almost total silence, save for a few polite remarks on either side.

Chie, thought Dojima, didn't seem to happy either. _Probably still pissed off about Yu being out so late, _he decided. _Guess maybe there are some parts about marriage that I don't miss…_

In light of recent events, that thought felt particularly disloyal. Dojima scowled to himself as they pulled into the station parking lot.

Neither Naoto nor Takahashi seemed to be at the desk yet, so Chie and Dojima took the opportunity to revel in their newfound elbow room. Dojima was just getting up to go and make some coffee to start off both of their days, when Chief Taiga stood up from his own desk and made his way into the center of the room.

"Hey," he shouted, over all of the chatter and the sounds of typing at keyboards. "Listen up, guys. I…I've got news, and…well, it's not good news. I guess you'll probably see it on TV in a couple of hours anyway, though, and I'd rather you hear it from me."

Chie sat bolt upright in her chair. _Huh? _Wondered Dojima. _What's gotten into her?_

The chief took a deep breath. "Last night," he said slowly, "I went over to Officer Fujioka's place to…to handle personally the issue of his recent absence from work. I found the door open when I arrived, so I went in. He, um…well he's dead."

"Dead?" muttered Dojima, staring. The chief dropped his eyes to the carpet, and Dojima could see that sweat had broken out on his brow and on the back of his neck. It wasn't like the chief to lose composure like that. It was almost more disturbing than the next few words that came out of his mouth.

"He'd pretty obviously been dead for a couple of days," continued the chief, "though obviously I'm not asking you to take my word for it. I've got guys working on it right now. Looks like he drank himself to death."

Murmurs and mutterings were beginning at every desk, now, as the rest of the Inaba police force expressed their shock, alarm, and consternation.

_Poor bastard, _thought Dojima. _Got so miserable after his mom died that he drank himself into oblivion. He was one of those young guys, too. Too soon. Hell._

"As far as I know," the chief was saying, raising his voice over the growing hubbub, "he doesn't have any nearby living relatives. Pretty sure he's got a girlfriend in Osaka, though, if you're interested in sending condolences."

Naoto chose that moment to stride through the double station doors. Everyone looked up when they heard the doors slam closed behind her, and she stopped in her tracks, apparently aware that she was suddenly the focus of everyone's attention.

"What is it?" she asked, looking at Chie. Chie bit her lip.

"That's all, I guess," finished the chief. "Back to work, everybody."

**Meanwhile, at the Junes Food Court…**

"So?" inquired Yukiko, in that gentle, insistent way she had. "Where were you last night? Chie said you didn't come home until almost midnight, and that when you did get in, you were restless but wouldn't talk to her about it."

"There's nothing for her to be worried about," mumbled Yu. "There were some things I wanted to look into in town."

Yukiko raised a delicate eyebrow. "Yu-kun," she admonished him, "when are you going to start remembering that we're your friends, and not the enemy? Just now, I think you really upset Yosuke, and you're beginning to worry me, too. I know it's been a long time since we've all been together like this…so maybe things aren't exactly the way they used to be. Still, we're your friends. We want to help you. We need you to trust us."

Yu sighed. "I'm…not trying to upset anybody," he muttered. "Its' got nothing to do with trust. Maybe this leader thing just isn't coming as easily as it used to."

Yukiko smiled. "That's understandable," she told him. "We know you so well…and we know that you're the kind of person who wants to try and fix everyone's problems, all at once. Naoto-kun says you're worried about Nanako-chan, and about Dojima-san's work. Of course you are, they're your family. Chie, too...there's a lot on your shoulders right now."

"You're all my family," insisted Yu. "You're all the people I was looking forward to coming home to."

"Then let us help you," murmured Yukiko, placing a hand lightly on his arm. "Let's make this place into a home together."

Yu didn't say anything for a long moment, trying to figure out how to explain to Yukiko that this had nothing to do with any of them. Eventually, she sighed.

"Do you know what someone told me when I first took over the Inn?" she asked. "I was overworked and overwhelmed, sure that I had to do everything myself so that everyone would know just what a good manager I could be. One morning, I hadn't slept at all because I was too busy worrying about how to get everything done. I dropped and broke one of the expensive plates that a guest had given us in a set for Christmas the year before. The pieces were lying all over the floor, and instead of sweeping them up, I just sat down in the middle of them and started to cry…I was so tired."

Somewhat perversely, that image made Yu smile. _It really does sound just like Yukiko_, he thought. _Always overworking herself. She was like that in high school, too…at the beginning, when I first met her._

"Kasai-san," continued Yukiko, "one of our waitresses found me there, surrounded by broken pieces of plate, and she picked me up, brushed me off, and helped me wash my face. She told me that I was just like my mother, that I was going to work myself until I collapsed, and that it would only make everything worse. She said that a good leader knows how to delegate, and how to use each of the people in his or her life to the best advantage. I think maybe that's something you need to understand. You can use us, too. That's why we're here. You want us to be here, don't you? Isn't that why you asked us to help you in the first place?"

Yu nodded. "Yes…of course I do. I…couldn't do much without you guys."

Well," retorted Yukiko, "I don't know if that's true, but you shouldn't have to try."

Now, it was Yu's turn to smile. "Thanks," he muttered. "I think maybe I really needed to hear that. Kasai-san…I think I remember her. She sounds like a very wise woman."

For just a moment, the gentle smile on Yukiko's face flickered and faded. Then, it was back, and Yu wondered if he'd only imagined it.

"She is very wise," Yukiko agreed. "Now. Don't think I'm going to let you off the hook so easily. Tell me, where did you go last night that kept you out so late?"

Yu told her. He explained, yet again, all about Naoto's sighting of Margaret with Dojima in the shopping district, and about how he himself had rushed over to find Adachi, but had only found Igor in the Velvet Room.

"After that," he continued, "I spent some time in the TV world on my own, just looking for him, I guess. I went to the places I thought he'd be. I went to Magatsu Inaba, and I hung around in that horrible room with Miss Yamano died. When I didn't find him anywhere inside the TV, I started to get even more worried, but there was nothing else I could do. I went home, but I don't really know what time it was. Uncle Dojima gave me a hard time about it when I walked in, so I guess it was pretty late."

Yukiko looked surprised. "You went into the TV World by yourself?" she demanded. "You know that we don't' do that. We agreed never to do that."

"Please," mumbled Yu. "Don't tell Chie."

"I won't tell Chie," agreed Yukiko. "It'd only make her more upset. But…you aren't going to do it again."

Yu realized that Yukiko wasn't asking him, she was telling him. "Yes ma'am," he said meekly. Yukiko looked at least slightly pacified.

"Hey, you guys!" called Yosuke, emerging from inside the store. "It's break time!"

Both Yu and Yukiko stood up from their seats. "'I'm coming too," Yukiko informed Yosuke. "And I think we should call Rise, just to be safe."

"Huh?" Yosuke looked momentarily startled. "Well, sure, okay. Um…might take a while for her to get here, though, and it's not like I've got all day."

In the end, they did call Rise, who as it turned out, was watching TV with her grandmother over at the tofu shop. It didn't take long for her to arrive, and then all four of them entered into the Junes TV together.

"So," asked Yosuke, "what's our first move? You guys ready to get some answers out of this Igor guy?"

Yukiko frowned. "I don't think we can all go into the Velvet Room," she reminded them. "Isn't that right, Yu-kun? Only you're welcome in that place. Otherwise I'm sure we'd have found our way in before."

"I think you're probably right," agreed Yu. "Confronting Igor as a group isn't really an option."

Yosuke looked slightly crestfallen, although he didn't let it get him down for long. "Okay," he persisted, "then let's have a look around for Adachi. If he was out in the real world all the time, someone would probably have caught him by now, right? He has to spend most of his time hiding out in here, just like he did when he caught him the last time."

"I'll see if I can find him," said Rise, stepping a few feet away from the rest of the group and summoning her persona. Yu and the others watched with baited breath as she closed her eyes and allowed her persona to take full control of her senses and psyche. After a few tense moments, however, she frowned, and shook her head. Her persona vanished.

"He's not here," she murmured. "Or at least…I can't feel him anywhere."

"It's possible that Igor and Margaret might be hiding him from us," suggested Yukiko. "Do you think that's likely? If they don't want us to return him to prison, then they might be using some kind of cloak or shield to keep us from finding him."

Yu did not want to believe that was true. _But they're on our side, _he told himself. _They've always been on our side. Without their help, we never could have defeated Izanami or any of the others._

"Yeah," agreed Yosuke eagerly. "Yeah, that's probably it. I mean, if I've got this right, then Igor and Margaret aren't even really human, so…who knows what kind of crazy powers they have."

Rise suddenly caught her breath. "Oh!" she announced, "it all makes sense! Do you remember when I told you that I couldn't sense anything in here because there was some power blocking my readings? That must have been it! It must have been those two from the Velvet Room!"

"Is that power blocking you now?" asked Yu.

"Um…well, no," admitted Rise, frowning. "It's not quite the same thing. I can sense lots of things in here now…just not Adachi. It's as though he's not inside this world at all."

"Oh well," sighed Yosuke. "Looks like we'll just have to do this the old fashioned way. Let's go check out all of the old familiar haunts. Even if he's not in here, we'll probably find some trace of him."

"Yes," agreed Yu. "After all, even the people who died in the TV world left some trace of their personality behind."

Briefly, he contemplated suggesting that they split up, and that each of them head in the direction of a different part of the TV world. _No, _he realized, _that's no good. He's too powerful for only one of us to take on. None of us would stand a chance against him, alone._

Out of the corner of his eye, Yu thought he could see Yukiko smiling at him.

"Let's go," he told the others. "I guess it makes sense to start at the beginning."

**Chapter 46: Chapter Forty Four: Letting Her Down**

**Author's Note: **Sorry to cut this one short, guys, but I forgot that I'd promised to have dinner with dag's family this evening. Stay tuned for the conclusion of the shadow battle, either late tonight or tomorrow morning!

Oh, and I guess it's okay for me to say here that I've started working on a collaboration with **Miss Hanamura** called **Changing Hues**. It's an AU with OCs, and I've never written anything like this before, but I'm such a big **Miss Hanamura** fan that there was no way I could say no when she suggested it. If you find a minute to check it out, I'd be eternally grateful.

Then again, I'm eternally grateful already for all the wonderful commentary I've been on this story!

**Chapter Forty Four: Letting Her Down**

"Excuse me, Dojima-san?" called one of the rookies, hurrying over to Dojima's desk. "Um, there's a woman here to see you. She's waiting outside."

"Huh?" asked Dojima. "Is it about the Adachi case?"

The rookie looked uncertainly between Dojima, Takahashi, Naoto, and Chie. "Actually, sir," he mumbled confusedly, "she…she says it's personal."

"Personal?" asked Chie, surprised. "Um…is it a friend of yours?"

"Didn't know you had a girlfriend," remarked Takahashi.

"I do not have a girlfriend," shouted Dojima, scowling. "I'm a married man."

Chie and Takahashi gave each other infuriatingly knowing looks. Unexpectedly, it was Naoto who spoke up next.

"Dojima-san," murmured Naoto, not looking at him. "You have been a widower for almost thirteen years. I do not believe that anyone would feel it untoward for you to…to entertain the company of other women."

"Wow, Naoto," whispered Chie. "That was…pretty forward of you. Hey, wait, are you blushing?"

Dojima wasn't sure if he should be furious or embarrassed by Naoto's sudden and somewhat uncharacteristic commentary on his personal life. "I've got my daughter to think of," he managed to mumble. "You understand that, right? I don't waste time thinking about women. That part of my life was over a long time ago."

The atmosphere was awkward and heavy. Into the midst of it, the uncomfortable rookie cleared his throat. "Uh, sir," he began, "should I tell her that you're coming, or not?"

Dojima stood up from the desk. "I'm coming," he said. "Might as well figure out what the hell this is all about.." He hurried off quickly after the rookie, all too conscious that the others were still staring.

He wasn't surprised, of course, when he found Margaret waiting for him outside the station doors. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he'd known that it would be her as soon as the rookie mentioned that there was 'a woman' waiting.

_Or maybe I was hoping it would be her, _said a treacherous voice in the back of his mind. He did his level best to ignore it.

"Ah," murmured Margaret, upon seeing him. "Dojima-san. I'm terribly sorry to be interrupting your work. I hope this isn't too intrusive a time."

"I'm pretty busy," he grumbled. "What is it?

For a moment, Margaret didn't say anything. Then she gave the hovering rookie a pointed look.

"Uh, right," stammered the rookie. "Um, anyway, I'll leave the two of you alone."

Dojima simmered. "Hey!" he shouted after the retreating rookie's back. "It's not like that! Jeez…now the kid's probably gonna start rumors."

"Would that be so terrible?" asked Margaret, unexpectedly. "Honestly, I don't think I'd mind."

Dojima stared, uncertain if he'd heard her correctly. His chest was uncomfortably tight.

Sighing, Margaret sat down on one of the benches near the bus stop, beckoning Dojima to join her. After a brief hesitation, he decided to remain standing.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

Margaret frowned. "Oh, you're so brusque. I'll admit, Ryotaro, I've been thinking about you. I just wanted to see you. I hoped we might get lunch together, when you aren't so busy."

_Thinking about me, huh? _reflected Dojima. _Yeah, I've been thinking about you too. Come to think of it, this is all your fault. If only you'd quit messing with my head, maybe I could get some sleep and some damn work done._

Margaret was gazing at him expectantly, with an unreadable look in her lovely eyes. Dojima forced himself not to look at her, not to think about how pretty her eyes were and about how he'd really liked it the night before when she'd laughed at a story of his wild youth.

_I barely know this woman, _he reminded himself. _This is nothing to get excited about._

"Sorry," he muttered, shaking his head. "But I won't have time to take a lunch break today."

"Oh," began Margaret, "that's fine. Perhaps we could get-?"

"Actually, I'm pretty swamped with the investigation," interrupted Dojima. "It's…probably gonna be like that for a while. Like I said, sorry."

Deciding that was a reasonable note to end on, he turned around and began walking back towards the station. He couldn't quite help, however, risking a quick glance over his shoulder to see how Margaret was taking the rejection. Surprisingly, she didn't' look as crushed as he'd expected, or even really upset. Instead, she just looked startled.

_Either she's some kind of stoic, _thought Dojima, _or she wasn't as interested as I thought_.

Now it was his turn to be disappointed.

**Meanwhile, inside the TV world…**

"Um…is this really the best place to look for Adachi-san?" asked Yukiko, biting her lip and giving what had once been the Castle of Princess Yukiko a slightly disgusted look.

"Hey, Yu said we should start from the beginning and work our way towards the end," replied Yosuke, shrugging. "This is one of the first places we found when we started exploring, right? So, seems like a good place to start."

"We haven't checked your precious shopping district yet," muttered Yukiko rebelliously.

Rise rolled her eyes. "Come on, guys, what does it matter? The castle's all pretty now, anyway! Come on, let's go! We're wasting time."

Yu, Yosuke, and Rise made their way across the castle and grounds and up to the gates. It was only as they were about to enter that Yu realized Yukiko wasn't with them. She had hung back, and was still standing a few feet away, gazing up at the fairytale towers that had supposedly come from a darker part of her mind.

"Huh? What's wrong?" asked Yosuke. "Haven't you already been in there once, with Teddie and Kanji? You're the ones who told us that it's not so bad anymore."

"I know," mumbled Yukiko. "It's just that…it brings back all sorts of awkward memories. I don't like to think about the person I used to be. She was so selfish, and…she wasn't a very good friend. She was so set on messing up everyone else's lives, just to get what she wanted, even though everyone was trying so hard to help her succeed."

"Senpai," insisted Rise gently, "that was all a really long time ago."

"Yeah," agreed Yosuke. "Its' not like anybody blames you for that stuff anymore. I mean, we've pretty much forgotten all about it."

"But I haven't," explained Yukiko. "I'm so ashamed…I hate thinking about those days. I don't want to have to relive them. Do you understand? It's…it's embarrassing to have to be reminded of all that."

"Yes," agreed a voice that sounded almost exactly like Yukiko's own. "You should be embarrassed. After all, the way you acted back then was unforgiveable. You're so lucky to have friends who are kind enough to look past the way you used to be. I doubt they'd forgive you so easily, though, if they knew what you really hink. I mean…nothing's really any different now, is it?"

Yu wasn't surprised to see Yukiko's shadow creeping up behind her. Yukiko, apparently, wasn't too surprised either. She didn't even turn around to face it. Instead, she closed her eyes, nodded, and took a deep breath.

"It's normal to have doubts," she murmured, either to the shadow, or to herself. "No one would expect anything else from me."

"Is that so?" inquired Other Yukiko. "Is that what you've been telling yourself all this time? Please, you can be honest with me. After all, I already know everything about you. There are no secrets, remember?"

"Yukiko," said Yu quietly. "We expected something like this to happen. There's no reason to let it get to you. We're with you."

"See?" asked Other Yukiko. "Look at all the wonderful people you have here in Inaba! You have some of the most devoted friends, and yet despite all of that, you still spend so much time worrying whether or not you made the right decision. You still can't help but worry that maybe, just maybe if you'd abandoned the Inn and left Inaba, you'd be happier person. How can you live with yourself, knowing you still think like that?"

"I'm sorry," whispered Yukiko, shaking her head. "I can't help it…it's only human."

Other Yukiko gave her a disgusted look. Then, slowly, the face of Other Yukiko began to change into that of a woman in perhaps her late thirties or very early forties, wearing an Amagi Inn kimono, with her hair tied carefully up on top of her head. The woman gazed sternly down at Yukiko, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Kasai-san," whispered Yukiko miserably. "Please…no more. I don't want any more of this…"

"Yuki-chan," admonished the shadow, raising one eyebrow. "You should be ashamed of yourself…after everything I taught you and everything we went through together, you still can't just settle and be happy? Your mother would be terribly disappointed if she knew. We gave you everything…"

"I'm so sorry," cried Yukiko miserably. "I tried so hard…I'm still trying, every day!"

"Senpai!" insisted Rise, "it's not real! Don't let your guard down. This is all just some weird illusion! You don't' have to listen!"

Yukiko shook her head fiercely. "But it is real," she retorted. "Even if she's only a shadow, the things she's saying are true. I can't hide that anymore. After seeing the world, and the way things work in other cities, I can't help but wonder if I made the right decision, and I know how wrong that is. I know that everyone has sacrificed and attempted so much just for me."

"You are an ungrateful child," murmured the shadow. "It disrespects my memory."

"Her memory?" muttered Yu. "But…Yukiko, Kasai-san couldn't have been older than forty when we met her all those years ago at the shrine."

"She died in a car accident," sighed Yukiko. "It was on her way to the shopping district to buy groceries for the Inn. It was terrible. She was such a sweet, helpful person. She was always trying to make sure that I got things right so that no one would look down on me or think ill of me. She even helped teach me how to cook, and…"

_She doesn't seem like a very sweet person now, _reflected Yu, watching the unpleasant look on Shadow Kasai's face.

"Whoa, incoming!" announced Yosuke. Yu realized that Shadow Kasai's body was beginning to warp and change, and that her arms were stretching out into massive, billowing sleeves. She grew in size until she resembled the waitress from hell, and the flower pattern of her kimono began to wilt into fading green weeds that covered and bedecked her entire body.

Rise had already summoned her persona. "I've got this!" she called, as both she and the persona began concentrating hard on the newly emerged shadow creature. "Okay, no sweat. This one's got a weakness, and it's fire. Should be a piece of cake!"

"Uh, yeah, well, not for me," mumbled Yosuke. "Looks like it's all up to you, partner!"

_Yukiko, _thought Yu, _hang on there. I'm not alone, and neither are you._

"Gdon!" he called, summoning the sun persona from the depths of his soul.

**Chapter 47: Chapter Forty Five: It's Not You**

**Author's Note: **There's some very important character interaction that I wasn't able to include in this chapter. Please stay tuned – I will be updating **Daydreams** later with that scene!

By the way, I know we all play the game differently, but Gdon has always served me very well. Yes, there are much stronger fire personas, of course, but please suspend your disbelief and don't let any disagreements about persona strength or usefulness ruin your enjoyment of the chapter.

**Chapter Forty Five: It's Not You, It's Me**

"Agidyne!" shouted Yu, lobbing a fire attack full-force at the shadow of Kasai. Taking the hit, the shadow shuddered and sagged for a moment, before shaking it's head and straightening up gain.

"Hey, it's working!" announced Yosuke. "Keep it up!"

The shadow swept one arm forward, using the heavy, hanging sleeve of its kimono like a weapon to knock Yosuke off of his feet. He grunted and went down.

_He needs help, _thought Yu. _I didn't think this through properly. We knew that Yukiko might be a target, so we should never have gone in without full numbers._

"Yukiko-senpai!" shrieked Rise. "Snap out of it! We need you to heal him!"

Yukiko took a deep breath. "R-right," she agreed, nodding firmly. She looked shaken, but some of the color was beginning to come back into her cheeks, and Yu could see that Shadow Kasai's hold on her was weakening. She took a step forward in Yosuke's direction, obviously preparing to summon her persona.

Shadow Kasai shook her head. "After all these years," she moaned, "Are you still trying to run away from us?" The shadow reached out and wrapped both arms around Yukiko's torso, pinning her in place. Yukiko cried out in frustration and began struggling against the grip of the shadow, but to no avail. This time, Shadow Kasai kicked out with one pointed foot, striking Yosuke hard on the knee just as he was starting to get to his feet. Again, he stumbled back and collapsed.

"It's always me…" he muttered. "Why the hell is it always me?"

_Hang in there, partner, thought_ Yu. He readied a second attack, glad that Yukiko was immune to fire. She'd be safe from his fire spells, even if the shadow was trying to use her as a shield.

"Yu-senpai!" screamed Rise. "Don't do it! Yukiko can't use her persona. The shadow's hold on her is sealing it! If you hit the shadow, you're gonna hit her, too!"

That certainly did put a damper on things. Yu paused. _I have to weaken my powers, _he thought. _I need a weaker persona._

Dismissing Gdon, he wracked his brain for some idea of what he could use. All of his personas were relatively strong, but there were a few that he hadn't used in a long time, ever since his powers had grown and he'd found himself attracted to personas who could execute more potent attacks.

"Pyro Jack!" he called. The persona burst gleefully into being, and threw itself at both Shadow Kasai and Yukiko. Both of them erupted into flames. When the fire died down and the smoke cleared, Shadow Kasai was slumped over on the ground, while Yukiko, though clearly slightly dazed, was still standing, now freed of the shadow's grip.

"My turn! Finally!" insisted Yosuke, hurrying forward to deliver a blow with the butt of his weapon. Shadow Kasai's head thudded down on to the ground, and she lay there, apparently out of both fight and breath. Slowly, as the team watched, Shadow Kasai mutated back into the human-like form of the Amagi Inn's waitress.

"Yukiko," began Yu, but he wasn't fast enough. Yukiko was already on her feet again and facing her former friend.

"It won't change anything," Yukiko was saying. "Lying to myself…it won't make me feel any differently. No matter how much I want to be satisfied with my life here, I'll always wonder about what could have been. I know it must be that way. I've been trying for so long…"

There was determination in her eyes, but at the same time she sounded as though she was almost pleading with the shadow, begging it to understand.

"It's who I am,' she murmured. "It's me…it's never had anything to do with you. No, that's not what I meant. I mean…it's not your fault. It's…it's no one's fault. It's not that I'm ungrateful."

She paused, as though expecting some kind of affirmation. Shadow Kasai continued to watch her expressionlessly. Yukiko swallowed, and tried again.

"You and everyone I know here have always been so good and kind to me. Without you, I'd probably never have had the courage to consider the fact that there's a world out there that might be worth exploring. So…thank you. You'll always be a part of what made me a better person. Even if I'm stronger now, though, than I was…I'll still be me."

For a moment, it looked as though even that wasn't going to be enough. Eventually, however, Shadow Kasai nodded, slowly, and then Yukiko's persona emerged. They gazed at each other as Shadow Kasai dissolved quietly into a shimmering pool of light.

"Senpai," murmured Rise. "We'd never want you to be anyone else. You don't have to pretend for us. It hurts, after a while…pretending. No one should have to go through that."

Yukiko smiled. "Thank you," she said."I feel the same way about you…but you already knew that."

Suddenly, Yukiko's persona glanced straight up at the sky. It, too, was enveloped in a burst of light.

_The strength of heart required to let go of the past has been made manifest, _breathed the familiar, faceless voice.

Yukiko's persona emerged again from shimmering obscurity, now clad in an incredibly beautiful kimono, covered from tip to toe with blooming, flourishing flowers in every color of the rainbow. Her hands were crossed in front of her, and there was a sweet, serene sort of smile hovering behind her lovely eyes.

_Yukiko has faced and forgiven the past _continued the voice. _She has obtained the façade used to face the unforeseeable future; the persona Kisshoten._

"So," remarked Yosuke, into the subsequent silence. "I guess that makes three of us, now, right? I mean, three of us who've gotten our new powers. Me, Kanji, and now you, Yukiko-san."

Yukiko shook her head. "No, it's' not just me," she insisted. "This power isn't just mine. It's…it belongs to all of us. Without you...all of you, I mean, I'd never have been able to find it."

She looked over at Yu, and he nodded.

"You're right," he agreed. "We're in this together."

**A few hours later, at Inaba police station…**

Chie and Naoto both seemed uneasy that day. Chie, naturally a bit clumsy, was so jittery over the course of the afternoon that she managed to drop and disarrange two folders full of important case files. She also spilled coffee down the front of her shirt.

Naoto, always composed, was much harder for Dojima to read. She didn't seem to have much to say, although her eyes kept darting back and forth between Chie's face and the clock on the wall.

_I'm not focusing that well either, _Dojima was forced to admit to himself. He kept trying not to think about Margaret. The more he remembered and reflected on the conversation that had taken place between them, the worse he felt.

_I shouldn't have been so damn abrupt with her, _he thought unhappily. _All she did was ask me to get lunch. I guess maybe I was too friendly at dinner the other night. When you really think about it, it's my fault that she got the wrong idea. There wasn't any reason for me to blow her off like that; I could have done it gently. Who knows what she thinks, now? Probably that I'm some kind of cold-hearted bastard who was thinking about leading her on. Jeez…_

"Dojima-san?" asked Chie, breaking through those unpleasant thoughts. "Um…I'm gonna go get a soda from the machine. Do you want me to make some coffee while I'm up?"

"No, no thanks." Dojima glanced at the coffee-stain Chie's shirt. "Actually…let's call it a day."

Chie blinked at him. "Um…sir?" she asked. Naoto and Takahashi both stared at Dojima as though he'd suddenly grown a second head.

"You guys look tired," he continued. "It's been a long week, so far, and nobody's feeling very good about poor Fujioka. I think we've done enough for one day. Go home. Get some sleep. That's an order."

"Are you feeling okay, Dojima-san?" asked Takahashi, in an uncharacteristic display of concern for his fellow man.

"Fine, fine," grumbled Dojima. "Why's everyone asking me lately how I'm feeling? First Nanako, now even you…"

Chie and Takahashi hurried out of the station quickly enough, as soon as they had tidied up some of the papers that were strewn all over their communal desk. Only Naoto lingered behind, looking deeply uncomfortable.

"Excuse me, Dojima-san?" she began quietly.

_Here we go, _thought Dojima. _I bet I can guess what this is gonna be about._

"Yes?" he raised an eyebrow at her. Naoto cleared her throat.

"I…wanted to apologize for my inappropriate remarks this morning," she told him, carefully right past him and not meeting his eyes as she spoke. "I…spoke out of turn. It was forward and uncalled for. I hope that you can forgive me."

Dojima shrugged, and patted her on the shoulder. "It's fine," he insisted. "I know what you meant. It's not like you're the first person who's ever suggested that I oughta get out more. Actually, Yu's been saying that a lot lately."

"I…see," murmured Naoto.

"We've known each other for a while," Dojima went on. "You're one of my nephew's best friends. Hell, it's almost like you're one of my kids. No reason why you can't speak your mind now and then. I guess I should be glad you give a damn."

He smiled at her, but for some reason Naoto didn't smile back. Instead, she swallowed hard and bit her lip. "Th-thank you," she stammered. "In…in that case, I think I'd best be going. Good night, Doima-san."

Naoto hurried out of the station so quickly that Dojima barely had time to blink before she was gone.

_Guess I made the right choice to let them out early today, _he decided. _Everybody's acting strange…maybe we're all overdoing it._

He got into his car in the parking lot, and drove over to Junes with the idea of picking up some groceries to surprise Nanako with when he got home. He was frowning at a canned food display, searching in vain for some pickled radish, when he caught sight of some ash-blond hair out of the corner of his eye.

"Good afternoon," murmured Margaret, brushing straight by him on her way, apparently, towards the dairy products.

For a few stoic seconds, Dojima honestly wasn't going to follow her. He wasn't even going to speak to her. Eventually, however the guilt that had been weighing on his conscience all day wore him down, and he dropped the pickled radish back on to the shelf.

"Um, Miss Matsumoto," he called, taking a few hurried steps to catch up with her. "I…uh…"

Margaret turned and looked at him. There was certain coldness in her eyes that hadn't been there before. It made Dojima feel like a deflated balloon.

"Um," he muttered. "Listen, about this morning…"

"Yes?" inquired Margaret.

Dojima fumbled for the right words. "It's…it's not that you're not a very attractive woman," he managed eventually. "And…it's not that I'm…not interested."

_I'm…definitely interested, _thought Dojima. _No point in denying it. Wouldn't change a thing._

Margaret was still watching him expectantly.

"What I'm trying to say," he finished miserably, "is that there's nothing wrong with you. I…never meant to give you that impression. Don't want you to feel like I'm…like you're not my type, or…uh, crap."

_What the hell am I trying to say? _he wondered. _Not sure even I know…_

Suddenly, Margaret smiled. Dojima's heart skipped a subsequent beat.

"Apology accepted," she informed him. "And…I think I understand. Perhaps it's I who should be apologizing for being so bold in my advances. After all, we barely know each other."

"Right," agreed Dojima gratefully. "We don't. Although…I don't think you need to apologize."

Margaret nodded. The coldness in her eyes gave way to something much friendlier, and as she turned to continue her shopping, Dojima felt the butterflies racing around after each other inside his stomach.

**Chapter 48: Chapter Forty Six: How to Be**

**Author's Note: **I am officially going to Otakon this weekend! That will be fun, I think. It does mean, however, that there will be no Friday or Saturday updates, unless something changes dramatically.

**Chapter Forty Six: How to Be**

At around four o'clock that afternoon, Adachi and Nanako were already in the TV world, training Adachi's persona.

They'd only been there an hour, but Nanako was already exhausted. School that day had consisted of a number of grueling lectures and reminders about the upcoming exams, which Nanako hadn't even bothered to think very much about ever since she'd begun her little covert trips to the Velvet Room. She had thus far spent almost no time at all studying, and that was weighing heavily on her mind as she watched the combat between Adachi and the shadows.

Adachi, on the other hand, seemed to be in much higher spirits now than he had been when she'd first coerced him out. His persona was presently in the process of using its teeth to rip the head off of a desperately squealing creature that was shaped something like an upended table. As Nanako forced herself to watch, repulsed, Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto tore the throat right out of the shadow and left it to dramatically explode into red and black shadow essence. There was red essence in the persona's teeth, looking very much like blood. Adachi was grinning from ear to ear like a child with a new toy. There was a malicious, almost manic quality to his grin, and to the rigid set of his frame that sent little horrid chills down Nanako's spine.

"Stop," she murmured, her voice coming out much more meekly than she'd intended. "You don't have to do it like that."

Adachi shrugged. "Make up your damn mind. You can't have it both ways. Either you want me to kill the shadows, or you don't."

"But you don't have to do it like that," repeated Nanako. "It's awful. You're…you don't need to hurt them so much. You can…you can just do it quickly."

_That doesn't make a lot of sense, _she told herself, frowning. _Death is just death…no matter how long it takes. _She knew that was true, on a rational level, and knew that the shadows were the enemy who had threatened and ultimately attacked them in the first place. _But it's so horrible…the way they scream. It can't be right to treat them that way. It's right to defend ourselves, but…it's almost like he's enjoying it. You're not supposed to enjoy hurting something. It's not supposed to be fun. That's all wrong._

"Seriously?" Adachi sighed and rolled his eyes. "It's not like they even have feelings. They're just shadows. They're not even people. Not that there's really all that much difference, if you think about it. Hell, I know some people who deserve this shit even more than the shadows do."

"But I heard that one scream," insisted Nanako. "And the other one, too. I think they can feel it…no, I know they can."

Another shadow advanced on them, and Adachi turned on it, his eyes flashing with contemptuous amusement as he watched his persona, apparently without direction or command, dive in for the kill.

"Come on, lighten up," insisted Adachi, while his persona ravaged the unwary shadow. "Look, if I gotta do this, I might as well have a little fun with it. Just defeating them is old news; it's boring. Being able to really destroy them makes it much more interesting. That Igor guy was right; even if I don't love admitting it. I've got way more power now than I ever did before. I don't even know what I'm capable of, but I'm definitely curious to find out. Hey, aren't you? Isn't that why we're here?"

Again the shadow gave up and dissolved into essence with one little squeak of weakened protest. Nanako could feel herself tensing up, and her fists clenching as she gritted her teeth against her frustration.

"I said stop," she told him. "I don't want you to do that anymore!"

Adachi laughed. "Oh yeah? Is that so?" he asked "Well, too bad. I'm actually starting to have some fun with this…finally. And why shouldn't I? After all, they do say that people who enjoy their work tend to be tons better at their jobs."

Nanako's patience snapped. Summoning her persona, she pointed at Adachi and murmured, "Tranquility."

Tatsu-ta-hime stepped forward, and placed one finger on Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto's forehead. Just as it had once before, Adachi's persona suddenly popped back out of existence.

"What the hell'd you do that for?" snarled Adachi, turning on Nanako with anger in his eyes.

Nanako placed both hands on her hips and gave him her chilliest look. "I told you stop and you didn't," she reminded him. "So, I made you stop."

"Tch." Adachi shook his head "Yeah, that's what you think. C'mere, Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto!"

Again, Adachi's persona appeared. Both he and the persona gave Nanako a taunting look.

"Oh," whispered Nanako. _But, why? _she wondered. _Last time, it worked. Once the persona disappeared, he stopped being so…so awful. Why didn't it work this time? I thought it would make him feel better._

"See?" asked Adachi. "I'm getting stronger very day. You're doing a great job, Nanako-chan. You should be pretty proud of yourself. I'm getting a lot better at this whole persona thing. Pretty soon, I think I'll be back to my old self again after all. Who'd have thought? Oh, man…this feels amazing! I really gotta thank you for this!" Again, he laughed, and his persona laughed with him, throwing her head back and letting her long dark hair whip around behind her, displaying her full, naked form.

From somewhere behind Nanako, another shadow began approaching hesitantly, as though uncertain just how close it should come to this insanely cackling pair. Before the shadow even had a chance to make up its mind about whether or not to engage, Adachi's persona shot forward towards it.

"No!" shouted Nanako, stepping in between the persona and the shadow. "No more! Leave it alone! It's not even attacking us!"

"Oh please," muttered Adachi. "Do you really want to give it a chance to try? Just get out of the way…"

Again, the persona lunged for the shadow, and again, Nanako placed herself firmly in the way. Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto began to look seriously annoyed, and the frustration was reflected on Adachi's face. His eyes narrowed menacingly.

"Either you get out of the way," he said quietly, "or I'm gonna have to go through you. You get what I'm saying, right? You've only got a couple of options. Either the shadow gets you, I get you, or you quit cramping my style. Actually, I guess that'll happen no matter what you do. This way's a lot easier, though. For you, anyway. So…move."

_He's not going to hurt me, _Nanako told herself, although in that desperate moment, she wasn't sure she believed it. Adachi was staring between her and the cowering shadow with malicious, gleeful hatred stamped across his face, and she couldn't find any trace in his expression of the man who had teased her the evening before about insisting on eating her sushi without the wasabi on it. He took a step forward, and Nanako took an involuntary step back.

_No, _she insisted, _he's not going to hurt me. He doesn't want to do that. Not the part of him that I remember._

Planting her feet and exhibiting an excess of stoicism that she wasn't sure she really felt, Nanako stood her ground, and forced herself to keep staring directly into Adachi's eyes. He raised one hand, and Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto tensed, her eyes dancing with delight, preparing, apparently, for an attack.

"No," murmured Nanako, shaking her head slowly. "No…don't."

There was a very long moment during which Nanako was genuinely uncertain as to whether or not she was about to die. A lot of things ran through her head, consisting mostly of snippets of news stories she'd read about Adachi, and conversations she'd overheard between Dad and his coworkers at the station. She tried desperately not to doubt, not to think about the possibility that she'd been wrong to forgive him, or that there might not actually be a man left in there to forgive.

_Big Bro, _whimpered something small in the back of her mind that she couldn't quite shake. _Help me…I've messed it all up. I'm in trouble…_

Then, suddenly, Adachi let out a sharp breath, grimaced, and shook his head. Some of the fight went out of his form, and he slumped, apparently defeated, while his persona hovered around him, looking disappointed and slightly disgusted.

"Ta…Tatsu-ta-hime," mumbled Nanako. "Tranquility."

Tatsu-ta-hime hurried forward and touched Adachi's persona, who vanished immediately with one last resigned glance at her master.

"Goddamnit," muttered Adachi. Nanako was more relieved than she could have described to hear that familiar uncertain misery in his voice. "What the hell…?"

He fell suddenly to his knees on the ground, and Nanako hurried over to him, although she kept carefully just out of his reach.

"Adachi-san…are you okay, now?" she asked.

Adachi just shook his head. "I…I feel like shit," he mumbled. "Yeah, I'm…oh crap, I'm gonna be sick…nngh…"

Nanako took two hurried steps back. She was only just in time to avoid the mess.

**Meanwhile, at the Junes food court…**

Yu was still waiting at the food court when Chie showed up.

"Hi," he told her.

Chie didn't meet his eyes. "Um…hi," she muttered back.

Yu gestured to a chair across from him. After a moment's hesitation, Chie sat down in it. She crossed her arms over the tabletop, and stared at her knees.

"Chie," began Yu.

Chie shook her head, interrupting him. "I wish you'd never come back to Inaba," she said bitterly.

Yu closed his mouth and stared at her. He had known that she'd be angry after everything that had taken place over the past couple of days, but he truly hadn't expected things to go quite this badly.

"Chie, listen," he tried again. "I want to apologize-!"

"Because," continued Chie, apparently totally ignoring him, "then we'd still be having normal fights, like…like normal couples do. We'd be arguing about stupid stuff, like you not calling me enough, or about you talking to other girls, or…or…" she trailed off unhappily, and then slammed one fist hard into the tabletop in her frustration.

"Is that really something you want to be fighting about?" asked Yu. "I don't have any interest in other girls. Would you prefer it if I did?"

Chie glared at him. "You know what I mean!" she shouted. The sound echoed for a moment around the otherwise empty food court. Chie looked a bit embarrassed.

"Yes," agreed Yu quietly. "Yes, I know what you mean."

Reaching across the table, he covered her hand in his. It felt for a second as though she might pull away from him, although eventually she let him retain her hand, and sat there, frowning, as the color flowed gently back into her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," he told her again. I'm sorry for everything. I mean that. I don't really know what else there is to say. I'm not as good at this as I used to be. That's getting clearer every day. This is my fault, and…I'm sorry."

He knew how lame he sounded, and how stupid his apologies were. Still, Chie had never been the kind of girl who'd taken to elaborate, flowery protestations. She was simple and honest, and deserved a simple and honest admission of guilt. He sat there and waited for her to decide what to do with it.

"Maybe," murmured Chie, almost as much to herself as to Yu, "I don't wish you'd never come back. Maybe I just wish you'd never left. Then we'd never have forgotten how to be a team. Maybe we'd never have forgotten how to be us. I mean…I think I mean just the two of us, too."

_What's done is done, _thought Yu, although he had the good sense not to say it. "We can learn to be 'us' again," he told her instead. "I want that. I want that very much."

Chie nodded. "I want that too," she agreed. "I…think I want it more than anything. But…right now, we have the case. We have to focus on the case. We can't let the other stuff get in the way. It's…its' not fair."

She laughed, apparently trying to release some of the frustration that she was feeling, and Yu squeezed his hand more tightly around hers. "After this is all over," he promised her, "I'm still going to be here. This time, I'm not going back. I'm here, and I'll stay here because I want to be with you."

"And when it's all over," Chie agreed, "we'll have time to learn how to do…this. I mean, how to be together forever…like we're supposed to."

Yu loved how that sort of sentimental talk still made Chie a little bit nervous, even after years of long-distance chats and fleeting, crammed romantic visits. On a whim, he leaned over the table and kissed her on the forehead. Predictably, she blushed with pleasure.

"Absolutely," he agreed. "It's a promise."

**Chapter 49: Chapter Forty Seven: The Calm**

**Author's Note: **All right, I can see that you guys are getting restless. Let's use this short chapter to move the plot along in a big way, shall we? Be warned, though, I'm going to be a little cruel at the end of this chapter…

Now, please, do not be too hard on poor Nanako. Yes, she is making extremely questionable life choices. We have already successfully established, I think, that Nanako is much too naïve for her age due to the way that Dojima brought her up.

**Chapter Forty Seven: The Calm**

"Um, you know, I should really get home," muttered Dojima, as he and Margaret crossed the street outside of Daidara and Sons.

He wasn't entirely sure where the time had gone. One moment he'd been apologizing to Margaret in the grocery department, preparing to head home for dinner with Nanako, and then hours later he'd found himself dragging along the Inaba streets with Margaret as she ducked into apparently every single storefront available in the entire shopping district. He felt like his masculinity had taken a serious blow.

"Oh, please don't leave," murmured Margaret, shaking her head. "I'll be honest with you, Detective, I hate shopping. It's no fun at all to do it by myself. The company makes this much more pleasant for me. You're not really going to leave me here, are you?"

Margaret, Dojima noticed, had begun referring to him again as "Detective." They had, after all, agreed that they were perhaps becoming a bit too familiar too quickly, and so the change made perfect sense. Dojima couldn't help but miss the way she ran her tongue over the syllables of his name, however. She even said "Ryotaro" elegantly, the ways he did just about everything else.

_Nope, _he reminded himself. _I am not starting that crap again. Snap out of it, Ryotaro!_

"So, um…have a good night," he told Margaret. She frowned at him, but he held his ground. Turning around, he took a few steps down the street, and then stopped suddenly as he felt her small hand close mind-numbingly over his.

"Please, Detective," she murmured. "Stay for just another hour or so."

A lot of things happened in Dojima's head at the same time. First of all, he realized that this incredibly beautiful woman was actually holding his hand. She'd touched him a few times before, but this was a much more directly intimate kind of contact that reminded him of the days he'd spent strolling along the Samegawa, first with old girlfriends, and then finally and wonderfully with his wife, Chisato. There was something undeniably romantic about hand holding that was doing its best to assert itself through the haze of things happening in his brain.

At the same time, however, another part of Dojima's mind was absolutely floored by the strength of Margaret's grip. _This woman has a hand like a vice, _he realized. _I had no idea she was so strong. I sure couldn't tell by looking at her..._

**Meanwhile, at the Dojima residence…**

Very quietly, Nanako tiptoed through the TV into her room.

"Hey, Dad?" she called. "Um…are you home?"

No one answered. Nanako pulled open the door, and headed down the stairs. "Dad?" she called again. "Big Bro? Are you there?" Again, there was no answer.

Grabbing the phone, Nanako dialed her father's number. It took a few minutes before he picked up.

"Hello?" he asked, eventually.

"Dad!" Nanako took a deep breath, hoping she didn't sound too nervous. "Where are you? Are you coming home soon?"

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone. Then, Dad sighed.

_Oh, _thought Nanako. _He sounds so tired._

"I think I'll have to be late tonight," Dad told her. "Um…look, I'm really sorry about this."

Nanako shook her head, even though he obviously couldn't see her. "No, it's okay!" she insisted. "I'll be fine! I think we still have some leftovers in the fridge from dinner the other night. I'll be here when you get back, okay? Don't work too hard."

"I promise," agreed Dad, sounding at least a little relieved. Nanako smiled as she hung up the phone. Then, determined to be extra thorough and extremely careful, she dialed another number.

"Hello?" asked Yu, when he picked up on his end.

"Big Bro!" announced Nanako. "It's me. Sorry to bother you. Um, I have a question. Are you going to be home for dinner, tonight?"

Yu sighed too, and even his little sigh sounded just like Dad's. Nanako marveled yet again at how similar her cousin and her father were somehow becoming, even after years of only seeing each other every now and then. _I guess it's true what they say about families being connected even when they're apart, _she decided. _I wonder if Big Bro will start looking like Dad soon, too. I'm…not sure I'd like that. Dad frowns too much. That wouldn't look right at all on Big Bro._

"Nanako, I'm having dinner out with Chie tonight. I promised her that we'd spend some time just the two of us. It's very important to her. Is that all right with you?"

"With me?" Nanako was surprised. "Of course it is. You don't have to ask me if stuff like that is okay. You can do whatever you want."

"But I don't want you to be all by yourself," insisted Yu. "Tell you what. I'll bring you back something from the restaurant, okay? How about dessert? And listen, if you need anything, you should call me right away. No, on second thought, call Yosuke first, and Teddie. Then call me. They can probably get to you faster than I can. Do you understand?"

"I understand," agreed Nanako. "And dessert sounds delicious! Yay!"

"What kind of dessert should I get?" asked Yu.

Nanako wasn't sure. It had been a long time since she'd ordered dessert at a real sit-down restaurant, and she wasn't entirely sure what was on the menu. "Surprise me!" she suggested, positive that she'd probably end up liking whatever it was anyway. "Anyway, see you later!"

Nanako hung up the phone, and took a deep breath.

"Okay!" she called, turning around towards the stairs. "No one's here! You can come down, now."

Nanako heard a few muffled noises, a thump, some cursing, and then watched as Adachi came hesitantly down the stairs into the living room. He was still looking weak and pale from his sudden bout of sickness in the TV world, and his eyes kept darting back and forth from furniture, to floorboards, to photographs hanging on the walls.

"Whoa," he muttered to himself. "This sure brings back memories."

"Dad's still at work," Nanako informed him. "And Big Bro's having dinner with his wife, so we're safe."

Adachi raised an eyebrow at her. "Safe, huh?" he asked, grimacing. "That's…not really the word I'd use for it."

Nanako, who still very clearly and vividly remembered the look on his face when he'd threatened her in the TV world, had a feeling she knew exactly what he meant. _But I already decided to forgive him for that, _she reminded herself. _And I'm not going to think about it anymore. Um…at least, not right now._

"Are you hungry?" she asked. "Oh, or are you still feeling sick? I can make dinner. I'm actually pretty good at cooking."

Adachi gave her a half-hearted little grin. "Yeah? I guess that makes sense, since Dojima-san can't cook, so you'd have to. Did your cousin teach you?"

"Mmhmm!" Nanako knew she was glowing a little bit with pride. "He says that I'm a very fast learner. Yukiko Amagi, of the Amagi Inn says that I can even cook better than she can!"

"No kidding?" Adachi's smile widened. "Okay, I'm impressed. But, uh, wait, I've got a question."

"What?" asked Nanako.

Adachi's eyes were now inexplicably laughing. "Can you make shoe?"

Nanako blinked at him, frowning. "Can I make…what?" she asked, confused. "Did you say 'shoe?'"

"Heh." Turning away from her, apparently to hide the laugh, Adachi shook his head. "Nah, nothing, forget it."

**Meanwhile, in Okina city…**

Yu stared down at the menu, trying not to feel too guilty about Nanako.

_I guess Uncle Dojima must be working late tonight, _he thought. _Otherwise Nanako would have said something about him being home. Maybe I should call Rise or Kanji and ask them to drop by the house. Then she might get mad at me for being overprotective, though…_

"Yu?" asked Chie. "What's wrong? You're mumbling to yourself…"

Yu hadn't realized that he'd said anything out loud. "Oh, um, sorry," he muttered. "I'm just, uh…just thinking."

"About Nanako?" asked Chie gently.

Yu looked up into Chie's eyes, and found that she was gazing at him with a slight frown on her face.

"It's nothing," insisted Yu, shaking his head firmly. "I'm sorry, I know I'm supposed to be focusing on us, tonight. This is an apology dinner, right? So, it's all about you and me. I'll stop worrying."

Chie sighed. "No," she told him, "you won't. If you could stop worrying about Nanako just like that, then you wouldn't be…well, you, I guess. Anyway, I'm kind of worried too. After everything you've told me about Adachi and the Velvet Room, I don't know what to think. I might be a really bad idea to leave her home all by herself. Who knows what could happen?"

_You're not making this any easier, _thought Yu, although he was relieved that at least she understood the gravity of the situation. "We'll finish dinner quickly, then. If anything goes wrong, she's got Yosuke's number, so…"

Chie shook her head, cutting him off. "There's no reason why we can't have an apology dinner at home, right? Maybe we should just order this stuff to go."

"Are you sure?" hazarded Yu, desperate to agree with her, but unwilling to risk offending her by being too eager to rush away. "Is that really what you want?"

Chie snapped the menu shut. "It's what you want, so, yeah…I mean, hey, it's not like Nanako isn't important to me, too. She's just as much my little sister now as she is yours! That's what family means! And we're…we're family, now."

"I love you," muttered Yu gratefully. "Thank you."

"I…I love you too," whispered Chie.

The waiter came around to take their others, and they requested a couple of to-go boxes with the food. As the waiter walked away, however, Chie allowed herself one little wistful look at the people who were in the process of working through their main course at the next table.

"It's a shame, though," she admitted. "I mean, by the time we get everything back to the house, the steak's gonna be cold…"

"I'll make it up to you," Yu promised.

**Author's End Note: **And so there's your big cliffhanger for the weekend. Things are gonna get intense in the next chapter, and that's a promise!

**Chapter 50: Chapter Forty Eight: The Storm, Part 1**

**Author's Note: **Surprise update! I am writing this from the TA booth at the con, quite honestly. I have a Nanako plushie. NANAKO PLUSHIE. Also, I bought some posters. And some other things. And Dag took my wallet away. My options are thus limited. He says I can go back to the dealer's room if I'm very good at watch the booth for him while he's gone. I guess this is my watching the booth. Maybe I should put the computer away…

This chapter is in two parts; here's the first one. The next one is the one you've all been waiting for, and I will try to have it out by Monday night at the very latest. On top of the con I've got rehearsals this weekend for two different shows, so bear with me.

**Chapter Forty Eight: The Storm, Part One**

Unexpectedly, it began to pour outside. Nanako spent a moment enjoying the pleasant sound of the water spattering against the windows while Adachi slurped greedily at his dinner.

"You weren't kidding when you said that you were a good cook," he mumbled, swallowing. "That's, like, all that really matters when it comes down to it. In a girl, I mean. Everything else is kinda secondary. You should be proud. I bet your Dad and your brother are proud of you, right?"

Nanako wasn't sure if she should be pleased or embarrassed. "I'm…not interested in what boys like about girls," she informed him.

Adachi raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? Haha, I guess you really are still a kid. Most girls your age are all over the guys by now." For a moment, Nanako thought she heard some of that all too familiar sneer creeping back into Adachi's voice. "After all, that's how a girl gets ahead. Money, power, clout… so, you gotta start young if you're gonna find that super rich husband to spend the rest of your life living off of. Isn't that how the game's played?"

Nanako shook her head. "I wouldn't know anything about that," she muttered, confused. "I don't even date."

"Dojima-san doesn't let you?" asked Adachi.

"No," insisted Nanako, "He does. I mean…I think he does. Um, I've never asked him. I just don't want to, that's all."

She fully expected Adachi to laugh, or to make fun of her the way the other girls at school did whenever she professed disinterest in the romantic world. Those girls usually accused her of playing coy, or of being too immature for any kind of what they would refer to as an "adult relationship."

"Good for you," said Adachi, nodding. "Yeah. If you ask me, you're doing it right. School's supposed to be about studying so you can get a good real world job, or something like that." He was scowling again, but Nanako got the sense that the scowl wasn't meant for her. "Plenty of time to mess around with boys later in life. I mean, not that it gets any better, though. Actually, men are pretty much seventeen forever. You'll get what I'm saying when you're a little older, trust me."

He was rambling now, and it was pretty condescending stuff. Nanako felt that she should be indignant, but instead the condescension was strangely comforting. She couldn't be sure exactly how much of it Adachi really meant, and how much was thinly veiled sarcasm, but either way his apparent inability to see her as an adult took some of the pressure off. Nanako didn't feel as though she had to act too much like an adult, now. He didn't seem to be expecting much. It was relaxing, in a way.

"Plus," added Adachi, frowning, "I mean, it's not like anybody's gonna want to hook up with the daughter of a police detective. Way too much pressure. Yeah, you're definitely better off not dating."

Nanako rolled her eyes. "Dad's not that bad, "she insisted. "You said that before, too."

That seemed to throw Adachi a bit. "Uh, I did? Yeah, I guess I did. Weird. Maybe it's something about being here. In some weird, twisted way it makes it feel like maybe none of that crap ten years ago ever happened." He ran his eyes over the room again, and then stopped, apparently staring at a picture on the wall right next to the TV set. It was a drawing that Nanako had done when she was seven years old, of her father, her beloved cousin, and herself all smiling in the sun. I was terrible, of course, and looked, for obvious and good reason, as though it had been crayoned in a burst of artistically-challenged enthusiasm by a little child. For all these years, Dad had been unwilling to take it down.

Nanako was suitably mortified. She had totally forgotten it was even there.

"Oh," she mumbled, racing over to the picture and tearing it off the wall. "Um, that's…" She flushed, shook her head, and wondered if she had the guts to throw the picture away.

Adachi beat her to the punch. Taking it out of her hand, he frowned at it for a moment. "Nice," he muttered. "Didn't peg Dojima-san as the kind of dad who kept every little piece of artwork his kid ever made, but…then again, I guess it makes sense. Uh, looks like somebody's cut off the edge here, though." He gestured towards a part of the drawing just next to Nanako's childish depiction of her father. "Like somebody took a pair of those dumb kid scissors to it, or something."Then, he grinned. "Hey that's my detective brain at work. Still got it, huh?"

"No," began Nanako. "It's not…" Then, she stopped, and bit her lip. For some reason, she didn't want to deny it. "Wait here," she told him instead.

Hurrying upstairs, she rummaged around in a drawer for a while until she found an old, crumpled piece of paper. She brought it downstairs, and handed it across the table to Adachi, watching uneasily as he worked to uncrumple and pry it apart. Then, his eyes widened, and he swallowed. Nanako glanced down at the table top.

"Uh, this is supposed to be me, right?" he asked. "I don't think I own any shoes this color, though…and how come my eyes aren't the same size?"

"I was seven," mumbled Nanako. "I cut it off of the picture because Dad always got angry while he was looking at it. I didn't want him to throw the whole drawing away, so I got rid of the part he didn't like. I kept it, though."

For a log moment, neither of them said anything. Then Adachi sighed, and crumpled the little drawing of him back up into a ball.

"Look, Nanako-chan," he began, sounding tired. "It's not gonna work."

"Huh?" Nanako was confused. "What isn't?"

"This whole little plan of yours, to put your magic, perfect family back together again." Adachi rubbed the back of his neck, shaking his head. "I mean…I get it. I get what you're trying to do. Why you're spending all this time trying to rehabilitate me, I mean, and why you're bending over ass-backwards to get in and out of the Velvet Room. It's not gonna work, though. There's just no way."

It sounded almost as though Adachi were doing his best to convince himself, as well as Nanako.

_My perfect family, _she thought, biting her lip.

"I'm doing all of that for Big Bro," she insisted. "So that you and I can protect him from the evil that Margaret and Igor keep talking about. That's always been why we're doing this. It's why-!"

"That's crap," interrupted Adachi. "Come on, who are you trying to fool, anyway? You're just as selfish as the next kid. Back then, you were lonely because your Mom died, and your Dad was being a miserable sack of shit about it. Then, your precious 'Big Bro' came along, and he made you feel a little bit better. I was there too, right? I was part of that whole thing, that whole scene. I mean, when you think of the good times, I'm in that picture. It's circumstantial." He waved the crumpled paper at her for emphasis. "So, now, you're lonely again and you want to go back to that one time when you were kinda happy. You're looking to take all the puzzle pieces and put them back together until you get that happy picture back. Hey, I've been a kid too; I get how that can suck. That doesn't matter. What's done is done. You don't get to go back and change the world just because you figure out that you're sad. It doesn't work that way. You're sure as hell not gonna change everything by pretending the bad stuff wasn't real."

Nanako shut her eyes. _No, _she told herself. _I don't want to believe that. I can make things right, after all. I've already made a difference…haven't I? It's not even all about what I want…it's about Big Bro, and about Dad, and about you, too, Adachi-san. It's about setting things right for all of us._

"Get it through your damn head." Adachi's voice was harder and colder, now, and he wasn't looking at Nanako anymore, either. "I killed those women. I did it because I wanted to. I did it because it was fun. Your cousin, too…he left because there were other places he wanted to be. It's time to grow the fuck up and face the facts. This is the real world. It sucks. You're never gonna go back to that happy place you had as a kid. Time to put on your big girl pants and move on."

The words hurt. They hurt terribly. Nanako shut her eyes against them, wishing she could shut her ears, too.

"What about you?" she managed to ask. "Don't you want to go back?"

Adachi scowled, and again, it wasn't at her. Instead, he was scowling at something ugly inside his own head. "Your dumbass cousin said to me once," he told her, "that I could still start over. Just like that, like it was that easy. It's not. There isn't any 'starting over.' What I want doesn't matter worth a damn."

_That's not an answer, _thought Nanako. _So, that means you do want to….I think._

"You're just scared again," she informed him quietly. "That's okay. But now it's time to be brave."

"Tch." Adachi sounded exasperated. "You still don't get it? Even after-?"

They both stopped and spun towards the door at the sound of a key in the lock.

"Crap," muttered Adachi, jumping to his feet.

Nanako's mind was blank with panic. Any moment now, she expected Dad to walk through that door, and anything that could possibly happen after that was too horrifying to consider. She'd broken more than just the rules. This was way worse than any teenage lover's tryst she could have gone on. She had absolutely no idea what to do next, and that was unusual enough to add another layer of surreality to the situation.

"Hey, how the fuck-?" began Adachi.

He never had time to finish the sentence. The door swung open to reveal not Dad, but Yu and Chie, each of them holding takeout bags and smiling. The smiles melted off their faces as they registered the presence of both Nanako and Adachi, and Chie's jaw dropped open in shock.

"Nanako!" shouted Yu. He lunged.

Adachi moved fast.

**Chapter 51: Chapter Forty Nine: The Storm, Part 2**

**Author's Note: **So, this chapter should have come out last night, but I wrote it, and I hated it. Unfortunately, I still do, but I hate it a lot less than the version I wrote last night.

It's a work in progress, as is so much of what I write…please bear with me and be patient. Thank you so much for your indulgence.

Oh, by the way, please check out **FallingStarXan**'s newest piece, a hilarious musical scriptfic called **P4 Musical: Miss You (When I'm Gone)**. I…was seriously impressed. I write plays, and…you're good at this, **FallingStarXan**. Any chance you want to move to DC and work for me?

**Chapter Forty Nine: The Storm, Part Two**

Adachi, however, wasn't fast enough. Yu had him by the arm in half a second, and Adachi couldn't seem to wrench himself free.

"What the hell?" he snarled. "Are you crazy? What happened to us being on the same side?" Nanako could see his eyes clouding over and hear the rasping, brutal quality returning to his voice.

"No!" she shouted, rushing forward. Before she had a chance to intervene, Chie got between her and Adachi.

"Nanako-chan," insisted Chie. "It's okay. Yu can handle this."

"No, he can't!' cried Nanako desperately. "Please, let me go! Big Bro, stop it! Leave him alone! He's not hurting anyone!"

Yu clearly wasn't listening. He might not even have been able to hear through the rage that she saw brewing in his face.

"Tch." Adachi shook his head. Whirling on his opponent, he grabbed Yu by both shoulders and threw him as hard as he could into a nearby wall. Yu's head connected with the wooden paneling, and he reeled, temporarily releasing his hold on Adachi.

Nanako was shocked. Only a few days ago, she knew that Adachi would have been way too weak to pull off a move like that. Thinking back to the way his persona had ripped the shadows apart in the Velvet Room, she felt fear creeping back into the pit of her stomach. _The strength of desperation, _she thought. _That's what a persona is, isn't it?_

"Please, Adachi-san!" she begged. "You don't have to hurt him…"

For a fleeting instant, Adachi glanced over at Nanako, and something in his face flickered. Then he turned away from Yu, and dove headfirst into the TV.

"Big Bro!" Nanako rushed over to Yu, who was now stepping shakily away from the wall. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Yu blinked at Nanako for a moment, his face hard and his eyes cold. Nanako resisted the urge to shrink away from him.

"Chie," he muttered. "Keep an eye on Nanako for me. Sorry."

"R-right," agreed Chie. "Okay. Yu…be careful."

Nanako opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. There was so much wrong and so much she had to explain that she had no clue where to begin.

Yu nodded at Chie, then turned and followed Adachi through the TV screen.

"Please," whispered Nanako helplessly, frustrated, hot, and angry with herself, aware that neither Adachi nor Yu could hear her anymore.

**Meanwhile, inside the TV world…**

Yu arrived inside the TV just in time to see Adachi disappearing around a corner. He gave rapid chase and managed to just catch him up. Kicking out at Adachi, he knocked one of Adachi's legs out from under him, sending the other man crashing to the ground.

"Damn," muttered Adachi, as Yu grabbed him by both arms and hauled him back to his feet. "Ugh, that hurt…"

He struggled for a moment, but Yu had both arms linked through Adachi's, pinning them in place. It didn't take long for him to give up. Yu felt some of the fight go out of Adachi, and he sagged forward, apparently winded.

This is stupid," he mumbled. "Why the fuck are you even chasing me? For once I didn't actually do anything."

"How did you get into my house?" demanded Yu. "And what were you planning to do to Nanako?"

"Nothing!" insisted Adachi through gritted teeth. "Anyway, ask her about it, she's the one that invited me in!"

At first, Yu had a hard time believing that. After all, Nanako was well aware that Adachi was a convicted murderer. She'd always been a good kid, and she'd never be willing to let something like that into her and her father's home.

_Then again, _he thought, _she's a trusting girl, and Adachi's pretty good at pretending. He probably tricked her into believing that he needed help, or something like that. She cares about people, maybe too much. She'd let him in if he talked her into caring about him._

There were horrible images hurtling through Yu's head now, images that he desperately wanted to block out. He remembered, suddenly and all too vividly the way that Adachi had bragged to them ten years ago about his advances on Saki Konishi, and about how high school girls were "small" "light," and "easy." Yu shuddered, unable not to imagine Adachi leering at seventeen-year-old Nanako the same way he'd eyed Saki in the moments before he'd thrown her angrily into the TV.

"If you touched her," snarled Yu, forcing the words out of his throat, "then I swear to god I will kill you. I don't believe in needless bloodshed, and I never have, but if you…if you hurt her, I'm not gonna hold back."

"What the-?" Adachi looked honestly startled. Some of the sneer faded out of his face, and he stared at Yu wide-eyed. "What are you saying? Nanako-chan's just a kid."

"She's the same age as Saki Konishi was when you murdered her," countered Yu coldly.

Adachi scowled, and went pale. "She's…she's not my fucking type," he muttered, looking a bit sick.

Yu had always been good at reading people. It was a skill that he prided himself on. Adachi was the one man who'd made him doubt his ability to understand the human heart, but gazing at his face now, Yu was almost certain that Adachi was being honest with him. He relaxed a little bit, intensely relieved. Slowly, the horrible images of Nanako screaming in Adachi's grasp faded mercifully out of his mind.

Some things, however, still didn't add up. Yu didn't loosen his hold on Adachi.

"You said she let you in," he demanded. "Why? What did you do to her? And why are you out in the real world in the first place? You're not supposed to leave the Velvet Room."

"Like I said," insisted Adachi, shaking his head. "The kid invited me over. You think I wanted to leave the Velvet Room? Like I've got any use for your goddamn precious 'real world.' I hate this place. This place hates me, it all works out. Nah, Nanako-chan came into the TV and dragged me out here. If you have a problem with that, why not ask her about it?"

"That's impossible," muttered Yu. "You're lying. Nanako can't get into the Velvet Room, or into the TV."

Unexpectedly, Adachi laughed. "Oh yeah? See, that's where you're wrong. She's even got her own persona now. Igor and Margaret, they set the whole thing up. Something to do with 'training' for the big battle against the 'evil thing' or whatever that's taken over this world. Hey, don't take my word for it. Not like you'd believe me anyway. Ask them yourself."

Adachi jerked his head in the direction of the door to the Velvet Room. Yu frowned.

_He's lying, _he told himself. _It's another trick. But...it doesn't make sense. How can he be so sure that Igor and Margaret are going to back him up? And what would he get out of a trick like this?_

Adachi was grinning maliciously, apparently enjoying Yu's confusion. "Kind of sucks to be the last to know, right? Hey, I feel for you," he said.

Yu began hauling Adachi roughly off in the direction of the Velvet Room door.

_Only one way to settle this, _he decided.

**Meanwhile, back at the Dojima residence…**

Nanako had begun to cry.

They were big, wet, frustrated tears, and she tried as hard as she could to stop them, embarrassed and annoyed that sobbing like a little girl was the best solution that she could come up with. The tears however, would not stop. Too many days of sneaking around and constant stress were finally pouring out, turning themselves into torrents of angry sniffles.

"Nanako-chan," murmured Chie, passing an arm around Nanako's shoulders and giving her a comforting little squeeze. "It's okay…it's all over now. Don't worry! Yu's gonna be back soon, and we're never gonna let that guy get near you again, okay? There's nothing to be scared of anymore."

Nanako wasn't interested in being comforted. Chie didn't even sound as though she really believed what she was saying. As far as Nanako could tell, Chie was almost as worried as she was.

_And I don't blame her, _she thought miserably, imagining the vicious glee on Adachi's face as he tore apart still writhing pieces of screaming shadows.

"I have to go get them," managed Nanako, around her tears. "I have to stop them. It's my fault that this is happening. What if someone gets hurt?"

"We just have to wait," insisted Chie, shaking her head. Nanako watched as Chie shot a nervous glance at the TV.

_Chie wants to be with Big Bro as much as I do, _Nanako realized. _She's only staying here because of me._

"No, we don't." Nanako took a deep breath. Taking a couple of steps around Chie and over to the TV, she put one arm straight through the screen.

"Oh…oh my god!" shrieked Chie. "Nanako…how can you do that?"

"You can do it too, right?" asked Nanako. "So…we need to go and help them. Please, Chie-san!"

"Wait…wait, hang on a second!" Chie sounded like she was starting to panic. "No, no way! Yu told me to stay with you, and he wouldn't want you involved! What the heck is going on, here? I can't-!"

Nanako made a decision. _I'm sorry, Chie-san_, she thought.

"Oh no," muttered Chie, apparently seeing the look hardening on Nanako's face. "What are you…hey, come back here! Whoa!"

Chie made a grab for Nanako's arm. At the same time, Nanako stepped into the TV, pulling Chie through with her to the other side.

**Meanwhile, in the Velvet Room…**

"What do you mean, she's a 'key?'" demanded Yu, staring at Igor, who was seated in his usual place in the center of the room. Adachi had slunk over to his customary corner, and was now rubbing ruefully at red marks on his arms where Yu had hung on.

Igor looked slightly more tired than usual. For what was probably the third time, he repeated his explanation. "Your only hope of defeating the growing evil that has begun already to descend upon your world lies within the power of the Wild Card, or, perhaps, in the power of the Wild Cards." He placed a special emphasis on the "s" that pluralized the word. "Nanako is the key to unlocking that power."

"I don't understand," insisted Yu. He could feel his right temple beginning to throb as he grew more and more irritated with the Igor's almost ludicrously calm demeanor. "Why Nanako? Why couldn't it have been one of us? There's no reason to drag her into this. I can't allow it."

"The decision is not yours to make," countered Igor quietly. "Nanako herself must decide whether or not to assume this responsibility."

"You didn't have any right to pressure her into it!" blazed Yu. "She probably didn't feel like she had any choice, especially if you told her that the world would end if she wouldn't do it!"

Igor shook his head. "My duty, as custodian of the Velvet Room," he murmured, apparently unperturbed by Yu's growing indignation, "is, on behalf of my Master, to provide the human race with an opportunity to overcome the evils that threaten consistently to overthrow it. I provide only the facts, and the facts, unfortunately, are that without your assistance and that of our other guests, the world will indeed end. I can do neither more nor less. Ultimately the decision lies with the humans."

Yu shook his head. "Nanako's not a fighter. She's not prepared for this. She doesn't have any idea what she'd be getting into."

"You're wrong," muttered Adachi. Yu spun around to face him, and found that he hadn't moved from his spot, but was now watching Yu intently.

"What do you mean?" asked Yu.

Adachi shrugged. "She's not stupid," he continued conversationally. "I mean…okay, she does take after her Dad a little, and she has some pretty weird ideas about how the world works, but she understands one thing. Without her, the world is gonna end."

_Without her, _thought Yu, _Adachi can't use his power. Is that what Igor meant by her being a 'key?'_

"She's doing this for you," muttered Yu bitterly.

Adachi snorted. "Nope. Wrong again. She's doing it for you. For her favorite 'Big Bro' so that nothing happens to him. You get it now? This is all your fault."

_My fault, _thought Yu. _It's true that I didn't step in to help Adachi when Igor originally presented the idea to me. I couldn't. I could never trust a man like him again. And yet…someone had to. When I wouldn't help, Igor needed someone else. If only I hadn't looked the other way…_

While Yu watched, Adachi pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket, and began attempting to smooth it out against his knee. It was the drawing that had hung for so many years on the wall of the Dojima residence, depicting a child's best artistic interpretation of Nanako, Yu, and Dojima. Leaving that on the floor, Adachi reached into his pocket again and pulled out another, smaller piece of paper. He uncrumpled that as well, and it turned out to be a similar drawing of him.

"Oh," murmured Yu.

He remembered the lonely look on Nanako's face as she'd told him that she never had any friends to meet after school at the Junes food court. He remembered how excited she'd been about the idea of him coming back into town again, and how eagerly she'd jumped at the chance to spend time with the other girls at the wedding.

_She's doesn't want to be lonely anymore, _he thought.

Looking back and forth between Adachi and Igor, Yu sighed.

"Yeah," he agreed, nodding curtly. "But it's not just my fault. I think we're all to blame. Dojima-san, and…and you, too."

Adachi nodded. "Maybe you're right about that," he said, more readily than Yu had expected.

Suddenly, Adachi went rigid, and glanced around, eyes wide.

"What is it?" asked Yu.

Adachi frowned. "Uh…voices in my head," he mumbled. "I am thou, and thou art I…something about a fool."

He gave Yu a defiant look, as though expecting Yu to laugh or not to believe him, but Yu was all too familiar with the slightly eerie inner voice that marked the creation of or increase to an existing social link.

**Chapter 52: Chapter Fifty: The Storm, Part 3**

**Author's Note: **Wow, there is a lot going on right now. I have to head out and rehearse a bit (my new show goes up on Saturday afternoon), but in the meantime, here is the first part of the next chapter. The next chapter (The Storm, Part Four) will mark the conclusion of the first half of this story, and will have some good Chie-centric stuff in it, so that's something to look forward to! Oh, and we need to get back to the Dojima storyline! There's…lots of good stuff to come, I hope.

Updates may be slightly more infrequent now. I'm not entirely sure. Laptop is dead, and so updates will depend on how often I can get to my desktop. We'll have to see. Please bear with me, and thank you for your patience.

**Chapter Fifty: The Storm, Part Three**

Somehow, even though she'd been pulled into the TV by Nanako against her will, Chie managed to land on her feet when they reached the other side. Nanako, on the other hand, stumbled and fell flat on her butt.

"Are you okay?" asked Chie, reaching down to help Nanako to her feet. While Nanako struggled to regain her footing, she watched Chie gazing around at the unfamiliar TV world landscape, biting her lip.

_Wow, _thought Nanako, genuinely impressed. Chie was sweating a bit, and twisting her hands nervously together, but she'd already shifted into her fighting stance, like she was ready for anything.

_Chie's so cool, _reflected Nanako, not for the first time.

"Listen, Nanako-chan," began Chie, taking a deep breath. "I don't understand what's happening here. How did you learn to-!"

A noise somewhere behind Nanako distracted her from what Chie was saying, and she turned around to see the Velvet Room door gleaming only a few feet away.

_Oh, _she thought. _That's strange. I thought the door was somewhere else._

"Big Bro!" cried Nanako, rushing towards the door. "Adachi-san! Are you in there? Igor-san!"

"H-hey, wait!" Chie hurried to catch up. "Hang on, where are you going?"

The door to the Velvet Room creaked open, and Yu strode through it, his eyes wide.

"Big Bro!" Nanako was so relieved that it was nearly painful. "I'm so glad! Are you okay? Wait…where's Adachi-san?"

Adachi stuck his head around the door as well. "Yep," he muttered. "What did I tell you? I knew she'd follow us in here."

Yu placed a comforting hand on Nanako's shoulder. "I'm fine," he assured her. "We're both fine."

That seemed almost too good to be true. Nanako frowned suspiciously. "Um…that's really good! So, you're…not trying to kill each other anymore?"

Yu and Adachi exchanged an extremely unfriendly look. "Not at the moment," murmured Yu darkly. Nanako decided that was probably better than she should have expected, and didn't press the point.

Chie was now frantically looking back and forth between Yu, Adachi, and Nanako. She was clearly upset. "Will someone please explain what the hell is going on?" she demanded, her voice rising as she tried and failed to remain calm. "First Adachi's sitting in my living room, then you're off chasing him through the TV, and now Nanako-chan can get into the other world? It's too much! Nanako's right…why aren't you trying to kill each other? Are we bringing this guy back to prison, or what?"

"Chie," began Yu gently, "calm down."

Chie shook her head at him. "No, no way," she mumbled. "No, I will not calm down. It is way too late for 'calm down!' I want some explanations, right now. None of this makes any sense!"

"This is more than I can take," agreed a slightly huskier, darker voice that sounded somehow a lot like Chie's own. "I mean…what do you guys expect me to do? Just act like there's nothing wrong? That's crazy, because everything's wrong! Everything's so mixed up! I don't understand it!"

Slowly, Nanako and the others turned around to find themselves staring at a woman who looked remarkably identical to Chie herself. This woman, however, had yellow, maliciously gleaming eyes.

"Oh no…" whispered Nanako.

"Oh man, not now," muttered Chie, gritting her teeth. "This timing sucks!"

"I mean, I'm just not cut out for this kind of pressure," continued Other Chie, advancing slowly one step a time. "It was way easier before, when things were simple, and they made sense! The last time we did all this stuff, it was way more cut and dry. There were good guys," she said, looking at Yu, and there were bad guys," she added, looking at Adachi. "I didn't have to think too hard about what was right and what was wrong. I don't think too good anyway, I'm not very smart! I just feel my way through things. Back then, it was easier to feel like I knew what was going on!"

Suddenly, she turned to smile at Yu. "We had our leader, then," she told him. "You were our general! Our master! We would have gone with you anywhere! All you had to do was give the order, and we'd follow it! We didn't have to think for ourselves! We could trust you! You were so awesome!"

"Chie," murmured Yu, watching the real Chie's face, instead of Other Chie. Nanako saw that the real Chie was starting to look pale.

"Shut up," muttered the real Chie warningly. "Don't you dare say it. Don't you even dare!"

"But we can't trust you anymore," sighed Other Chie. "That's why things got so out of hand. Nothing you tell us to do seems quite right…and I hate that! Why can't you be the man I wanted you to be? I just want to believe in you! But I can't…I can't. I'm just not sure anymore. It's horrible, and it's all your fault!"

Nanako felt her face getting hot with anger. "That's not true!" she shouted at the Other Chie, taking a step forward. "You're lying! None of this is his fault, he didn't-!"

"Nanako-chan," murmured Chie. Stepping in between Nanako and the shadow, Chie drew herself up to her full height, and began bouncing a bit on her feet, looking the shadow straight in the eye.

"Okay," she told her Other Self. "Fine. You've said what you wanted to say. We all heard it. Now come on, let's get this over with. Just you and me, got it? Go ahead, take your best shot. Just leave the rest of them alone, got it? I'm the one you've got the problem with, so let's throw down!"

The Other Chie gave Chie a slightly disdainful look. Then it began to warp and twist, its face and body changing rapidly.

"Whoa," muttered Adachi, as the shadow finished its transformation. "Well, uh…that's different."

Yu sucked in a sharp, surprised breath. The shadow no longer looked like Chie. Instead, it now looked almost exactly like Yu himself, except, again, for the terrible, yellow eyes. It was also wearing his old Yasogami High School uniform, and a pair of glasses that Nanako was sure she'd never seen on him before.

_After all, _she thought, _Big Bro's eyes are fine. He doesn't need glasses._

"I…" began Chie, taking an involuntarily step back as the shadow finished changing. "Hey, wait, that's…that's not fair."

"Just leave it to me," murmured the shadow of Yu, reaching out towards Chie with a confident look on his face.

"S-stop it," stammered Chie. "Hey, go back to the way you were before! What am I supposed to do with this?"

"We'll finish this together," intoned Shadow Yu. "No matter what. No matter…what." He closed his hand around Chie's shoulder, in what was apparently a gesture of comfort. Then, he squeezed. Chie gasped like she was in pain, and began to sag under the weight and pressure of the shadow's grip.

As Chie crumpled, the shadow began to grow bigger. Its face again began to change, as did the rest of its body, until soon it towered over the party, draped in robes of flowing fabric that almost seemed to move of their own accord every time the shadow shifted or turned. It had long, twisted, grasping fingers, and through the center of its chest a beating heart stood out as though operating separately from the rest of its body.

"I will not fail," mumbled the shadow, in voice that sounded now only slightly like Yu's. "I am invincible…"

"Chie!" shouted Yu. "Izanagi-no-Okami! Agidyne!"

Fire engulfed Shadow Yu, but Shadow Yu stepped through it, apparently totally unscathed.

Yu tried again. "Ziodyne!" he called, and powerful bolts of electricity shot through the shadow, but again, the shadow continued to appear undamaged. This time, however, the blow apparently distracted the shadow, who released its hold on Chie and turned its full attention to Yu.

As Yu begin a third attack, this time using ice, Nanako summoned her persona. She closed her eyes and bit her lip, focusing as hard as she could while Tatsu-ta-hime scanned the enemy. It took longer than it ever had when she had been scanning shadows for Adachi.

Eventually, Tatsu-ta-hime shook he her head. "Oh no," murmured Nanako . "No weaknesses…"

"I sort of figured that would be the case," muttered Yu, grimacing.

For some reason, Adachi snorted a laugh. "Nice. You're pretty full of yourself, huh?"

Nanako wasn't sure what that meant. Yu ignored him.

"Garudy-!" began Yu. The shadow, however, didn't' let him finish the command. It chose that moment to reach down and, using only one finger, to knock Yu off his feet. Yu's back hit the ground with a thud, and the shadow began pressing down hard on him, apparently trying to crush him into the floor. Yu's face twisted into a mask of frustration and pain.

"Big Bro!" screamed Nanako, horrified. _If even Big Bro can't beat it, _she thought, _then it must be powerful…too powerful. What am I going to do?_

Chie, it seemed, was still knocked out from the shadow's first attack. She was breathing, but it didn't look to Nanako as though she'd be getting up to fight any time soon.

"I cannot lose," intoned the shadow, now grinding the heel of its giant palm into Yu's throat. He gurgled and struggled to no avail, his eyes bulging as he tried desperately to free himself.

"No," whispered Nanako. "No…NO! Big Bro, get up!" She ran her mind frantically over the skills that Tatsu-ta-hime provided. "Um, um…tranquility!"

Dutifully, Tatsu-ta-hime reached out to touch the shadow, and Nanako prayed that it might do the trick. She hoped that the shadow of Yu would disappear the same way Adachi's persona usually did when she used that skill, but as Tatsu-ta-hime drew her hand away, the shadow remained. It didn't even look up from its assault on Yu.

"Stop it," muttered Nanako desperately. "Stop it…leave him alone!" She could feel terror, frustration, and rage all combining themselves in her heart, rage at the shadow for it's cruel attacks and rage at herself for being so useless and unable to save her cousin.

Then, something moved out of the corner of Nanako's eye, and she spun around to find Adachi standing at her elbow. She'd almost completely forgotten about him in her panic over Yu.

"Do something!" she shouted, begging him as the tears streamed down her face. "You're the only one left, you have to save him!"

Adachi sighed. "Yeah, sure looks that way," he muttered. "You sure that's what you want?"

Nanako stared. "Of course it's what I want! Please! Hurry!"

"Okay." A slow, bitter grin began to spread across Adachi's face, as he summoned his persona, who shot out of him with a triumphant cackle and a malicious gleam in her eye. "Man, tell you what, though. This'd be a lot more fun if that shadow still looked like your dumbass cousin. Wouldn't that be a rush, getting to finally kick the shit out of him. I owe him. Still, guess beggars can't be choosers."

Pointing, Adachi jerked his head at the shadow. "Go on, Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto, do your thing."

Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto nodded once, and then dived. She landed on the back of Shadow Yu, and sank her teeth into his shoulder, causing him to cry out and rear back, dropping Yu in the process. As Yu lay on the ground, sucking in shallow, tortured breaths, Nanako watched Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto ravaging and wreaking havoc on the startled shadow, tearing at his arms and pulling the hair from his head, drawing new spurts of red and black blood-like shadow essence with every fresh movement.

There was a very strange, uncomfortable feeling in Nanako's heart. It sent a little shiver down her spine as she realized that, for the first time, she wasn't interested in trying to get Adachi's persona to stop or hold back.

_That shadow hurt Big Bro, _she felt herself think. _It hurt him terribly. It could have…it could have killed him. I don't care if it's in pain. I want it to hurt. I want to hear it scream. That's only fair. It's only right._

"Oh my god," breathed Chie, struggling to her feet and staring at the carnage caused by Adachi's persona. Distracted by the sound, Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto glanced over its shoulder at Chie, and dropped Shadow Yu, who, defeated, fell to the ground and didn't stir again.

"No," whispered Nanako, shaking her head.

"Aw, come on," muttered Adachi. "Like this hasn't been a long time coming…"

"No," repeated Nanako, more firmly this time. Placing one hand on Adachi's arm, she called out to her own persona. "Tatsu-ta-hime, tranquility!"

Adachi sighed. This time, he didn't try too hard to fight it as Tatsu-ta-hime sent his persona back into the depths of his soul where it belonged. He did give Nanako a disgusted look, but didn't attempt again to call his persona. "Fine," he muttered. "Have it your way. Lame."

"Big Bro!" called Nanako, hurrying over to his side. Yu was sitting up now, rubbing his chest and taking slightly more convincing breaths. As Nanako ran towards him, however, he didn't even look at her.

Instead he was staring at Adachi, with wide-eyed alarm stamped all over his face.

**Chapter 53: Chapter Fifty One: The Storm, Part 4**

**Author's Note: ***sweats slightly* Wow, chapter fifty one? Really? Uh…feels like a lot. Oh well, hardly the time to turn back now, right? At least this is a short one.

Well, this marks a turning point in the first part of the story, so I'm going to go ahead and take a couple of days of hiatus after this one. I've got a show. See you again next week! Oh, but please do check out**Daydreams**, I have a couple of updates and freewrites to post there.

**Chapter Fifty One: The Storm, Part Four**

_It's horrible, _thought Yu. _That power…it's like he's ten times more powerful than he was when we defeated him in Magatsu Inaba. This can't be…there's no way the Velvet Room would allow something like this. It's too dangerous. Nanako…_

He remembered fleetingly something that he thought he'd seen as he'd swum back into the realm of consciousness after having been nearly crushed by the shadow of himself. He was almost certain he'd seen Nanako touching Adachi's arm, and in that same instant, Adachi's persona disappearing.

_What the hell does it all mean? _he asked himself helplessly. _Nanako is the key…the key to what? How can they expect her to face that alone? Are they prepared to protect her?_

Imagining the menacing glee in Adachi's eyes as he watched the carnage wreaked by his persona, Yu shuddered.

_Am I?_ he wondered.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Chie getting slowly to her feet. "Chie!" he called out, turning towards her, but she didn't seem to hear him. Instead, she crossed over to the fallen, badly wounded form of the shadow, which had reverted in its pain back to the image of Yu in his old Yasogami uniform. The shadow watched her warily, but made no move to attack. Chie knelt down beside it on the ground.

"I guess…I guess I can't ignore it forever," she murmured apologetically to the shadow. "You'd think by now I'd have already figured that out, but…maybe I'm not the only one who's forgotten how this stuff works, huh?"

The shadow didn't say anything. It just lay there, watching Chie with a blank, exhausted expression on it's familiar face. _It's creepy, _thought Yu absently, _watching someone else's feelings on a face that looks like mine. I hope I don't look stupid like that when Chie's talking to me. If I do, it's no wonder she loses her temper sometimes…_

"You're not wrong," continued Chie quietly, gazing at her feet. "It's true that I thought those things. I think them…a lot, actually, but, uh, I guess you already knew that. That doesn't make it okay, though. Thinking like that, I mean. It's not fair. It's…it's not fair to you. I mean, to him." Frowning, Chie shook her head. "Um, wait, let me start over. I'm trying to say…sheesh, this is hard. Uh."

Turning away from the shadow, Chie looked Yu himself square in the face. "It's not that I really don't trust you," she told him. "I do…I think I rely on you more than on anyone else in my life. It's just that I remember feeling so much safer, ten years ago. I remember feeling like you had all the answers, and like you'd get us through whatever happened, no matter what. You seemed so cool back then. You were a hero! All I had to do was follow you and I knew I'd make it out okay."

Yu opened his mouth to say something, but Chie shook her head, cutting him off.

"No," she insisted. "Let me finish. These past few days, ever since the wedding, things have been so crazy. All I want is for us to spend time together, to be a couple, I mean…we're married now, but we haven't had any time to just be…us, I guess. I've been blaming you for that, blaming you for not being able to solve all these problems fast enough. I've been thinking to myself that you shouldn't be confused, and that you shouldn't be torn, and that you shouldn't be worried because you're supposed to be the hero who has the answers. You should be able to just make up your mind and save the day, and then come running back to me so that we can be together. But that's…that's not fair. It's not fair for me to think that. It's not fair for me to ask you that."

She paused for a moment, nodding to herself slowly, as though coming to a new realization for the first time. "When we were kids together," she murmured, "we thought we were invincible. That's why everything seemed so much easier. We didn't really understand what was at stake, here. We knew we could save the world, so why worry too much about it, right? Haha…yeah. It sounds pretty stupid, now, that I'm saying out loud." She shook her head. "It's never gonna be easy again, like it was when we were kids. You're still a hero; it's just that the world is a scarier place for us, now. There's more for us to face. There's less that we can be really sure about."

"Chie," began Yu again, feeling a lump rising in the back of his throat. "I never-!"

"And besides," she finished, shrugging and giving him a sheepish little smile. "Even if you're not a superhero anymore, you're a real person, now, and…the guy I fell in love with, he's a real person. I'm sure of that. But…still, I wish we could have some more time together, maybe to figure out who we've grown up to be. I think…I think I'd really like that. Maybe when this is all over…yeah?"

Yu didn't have any idea what to say. "I…didn't know you felt like that," he managed, uncertain whether he should be flattered or crushed. "I never wanted to let you down. I'm sorry."

Chie bit her lip. "I just told you, it's not your fault," she sighed. "I'm the one who's wrong here, okay?"

_I think maybe the blame belongs to both of us, _decided Yu. He remembered saying something similar to Adachi not too long ago, and wondered how many other people he'd inadvertently disappointed ever since he'd arrived back in town.

"So, I hear you," said Chie, returning her attention to the shadow, who was now sitting up straight and watching her carefully. "I know that what you're saying is how I'm feeling, but…I've decided that I'm gonna let that go. From today on, I'm gonna look at things differently. I need to be part of this team, and…marriage is a team, too. I have to be a team player!"

As Chie finished speaking, her persona appeared, gazing across at the defeated shadow. After a moment, Shadow Yu vanished in a burst of light, and Chie's persona craned its neck to stare up at the ceiling.

_The strength of heart required to let go of the past has been made manifest, _intoned the ever-present bodiless voice.

The persona, too, vanished into streams of light. When the shimmer faded, Chie's persona was again visible, now wearing blue robes that flowed around her like waves on the sea. There was a snake entwined around the persona's body, and it's head swayed back and forth in time with the gentle movements of the folds of robe, made, apparently, by an unseen breeze.

_Chie has faced and forgiven the past_continued the voice. _She has obtained the façade used to face the unforeseeable future; the persona Benzaiten._

"My power…" murmured Chie, nodding slowly. "Yeah…now we can both be each other's heroes." She gave Yu a cheerful, incredibly beautiful smile, and his heart melted as he realized, not for the first or the last time, that he was possibly one of the luckiest men on the face of planet Earth.

"Nngh…I think I'm gonna be sick," muttered Adachi. Yu turned on him, assuming he was being rude and sarcastic, and discovered that Adachi was now hunched over himself, one knee on the ground, looking green and queasy.

_He really does look like he's going to be sick, _realized Yu with surprise.

Nanako hurried over to Adachi's side. "It's okay," she assured Yu and Chie. "This happens sometimes when he uses his persona. He'll be fine."

She gave Adachi an arm, helping him back up on to his feet. There was something so intimate about the interaction that it made Yu's hair stand on end.

"Come on, Nanako," called Yu, in a tone that brooked no argument. "It's time to go."

"But-!" began Nanako. She stopped, frowning at the look on Yu's face, and then hung her head. "Okay, Big Bro."

They strode back together towards the exit. Nanako glanced over her shoulder a couple of times at Adachi, who apparently wasn't following them, much to Yu's relief.

"Big Bro," murmured Nanako, placing one hand on Yu's forearm. "Don't you think…?"

Yu sighed.

"Thank you," he called over his shoulder. "You…may have saved our lives."

"Uh…right, yeah. Guess I did." Adachi sounded surprised. "Not like I did it for you, or anything, though…"

"Happy now?" Yu asked Nanako as they made their way back out of the TV.

Nanako beamed at him. "Mmhmm!"

Chie still had that strangely, unexpectedly calm look on her face, like she'd somehow managed to find some peace in all of the chaos that had just taken place. Yu was impressed, and a little bit jealous. She'd always been strong, but after watching the battle between personas and shadows, and seeing the way Nanako hurried to Adachi sighed, he felt anything but peaceful.

_But I have to be a part of this team, _he thought, echoing the same words that Chie had said when she'd begun comforting her defeated shadow. _I only wish I knew exactly what that meant.._

**Chapter 54: Chapter Fifty Two: Aftermath**

**Author's Note: **Okay. Back to work time. Now, since things are going to have to get better before they get worse again, let's see about picking up some of these pieces. I'll go ahead and write a couple of chapters in which nothing explodes and no one gets violently angry! How's that?

**Chapter Fifty Two: Aftermath**

For safety's sake, Yu stuck his head through the TV and took a quick look around the living room before stepping all the way through. As far as he could tell, Dojima still wasn't home.

"All clear," he called back to the others. Nanako and Chie followed him quickly to the other side.

"Whew," muttered Chie, sighing heavily. "I'm exhausted…" She plopped down on to the floor next to the table. "Ooh, and we haven't eaten anything yet! Um…"

The take-out Yu and Chie had brought home from the restaurant was still sitting on the counter in the kitchen.

"Do you think we can still eat it?" asked Chie.

Yu nodded. "It's only been sitting there for an hour or so, probably. It should be safe."

While Chie stood up to get the food, Nanako and Yu took their places around the table. Yu noticed that Nanako wasn't saying a word. She wasn't even looking at him. Any pleasure she'd gotten out of watching him thank Adachi seemed to have evaporated, and now she was gazing fixedly at the carpet, her hands crossed on her lap, looking rigid and uncomfortable.

_There's no use pretending this isn't a big deal, _thought Yu. _There's really only so much comfort I can give her._

"Nanako-chan!" called Chie. "I forgot, we brought you back dessert!"

Nanako shook her head quickly. "Um…thank you," she murmured, "but I'm not really hungry. Maybe I can eat it tomorrow."

"Huh?" Chie frowned. "But didn't you ask for it? Wait, did you have dinner at all?"

"I did." Nanako stood up again, and gave Chie and Yu both an apologetic, desperate look. "I'm…I'm sorry, I'm not feeling so well. I think I'm going to go to bed. Um. G'night!"

As Nanako raced up the stairs, Yu frowned at her retreating back. He had to resist the urge to chase after her.

"Well?" asked Chie. "Aren't you going to talk to her?"

Yu shook his head. "Later," he said. "Right now, I-!"

"Yu-kun," insisted Chie, interrupting, "she looks really upset. I think she needs you right now. I know you're angry, but she's basically your little sister. You need to go calm her down."

"I need to be with you," retorted Yu. "You said it yourself. I've let you down. I've been doing nothing lately but letting you down. I hate the fact that you feel that way. I came back here because I wanted to live my life with you. Even if I'm not a hero anymore, I-!"

"But you are a hero." Chie's voice had softened, and she was smiling at him, now, with that cheerful confidence radiating out of her eyes that had drawn Yu to her in the first place all those years ago. "You're my hero…and you're Nanako's hero, too. If you weren't running off to make everyone feel better and fix everyone's problems all the times, I guess you wouldn't be…well, you. You care about people. Its okay, I get it. I…guess maybe I was just too selfish to remember it, before, but it's one of the reasons that I started to care about you. Because you care so much about everyone else."

Chie was blushing again, and Yu reached across the table to touch her hand.

"Go on," muttered Chie, fumbling with the lid of her takeout box. "Sheesh, I'm saying this sappy stuff a lot, lately…guess you bring that out in me. Well, what are you waiting for?"

Yu was no longer waiting for anything. With warm fuzzy feelings beginning to take root again in his soul, he stood up and followed Nanako upstairs.

"Nanako," he called, knocking on the bedroom door. "It's me."

There was a short silence, followed by what sounded like a loud, stifled sniffle. "C-come in," said Nanako. Yu pulled open the door.

Nanako was lying on her stomach on the bed, surrounded by stuffed animals, many of which looked like Teddie. Her eyes were red and puffy, and she had quite obviously spent the last few minutes crying.

"Nanako," murmured Yu, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"Do you hate me?" she demanded, suddenly staring him straight in the face. There was something almost defiant in her expression that surprised Yu, and reminded him of the little girl who'd stood up to her father on his behalf so many times before.

"No," he assured her. "Of course not. I don't think I could ever do that."

"But you're angry at me, aren't you?" insisted Nanako. "Because I didn't tell you the truth about Adachi-san, and my persona…" She trailed off, scrutinizing the expression on his face. Yu chose his next few words very carefully.

"No, I'm not angry," he told her quietly. "I…probably understand better than anyone how you must have felt when your persona first awakened. It felt like you had a job to do…something that no one else would be able to help you with or would ever understand. You felt as though if you told me about it, somehow you'd be letting everyone down and proving that you weren't up to the task. Am I right?"

Nanako didn't say anything. She just stared at him for a moment, and then nodded once. "Mmhmm," she mumbled.

"But honestly, I'm worried about you, Nanako," continued Yu. "I can't blame you for how you feel. I don't think anyone really could. You're trying to make a difference in the world…and you're doing it to help the people you care about. No one could fault you for that. After seeing Adachi's re-awakened powers, though…I'm not sure you really understand what you're up against. This might be too big for you. It…might be more dangerous than you've realized."

_That is probably the biggest understatement that I have made this year, _he thought wryly, remembering the terrifying way that Adachi's new persona had torn an incredibly powerful shadow to shreds before his eyes. He didn't even want to think about what might happen if one day, Adachi decided that he'd had enough of Nanako's help. The image was too horrible to contemplate, especially giving Adachi's past penchant for disposing of anyone who pissed him off or didn't give him exactly what he wanted in the moment.

"You shouldn't worry," Nanako told Yu, although she didn't sound as though her heart was in it. "I'll be fine. I'm almost an adult, I…I can handle this."

"Being an adult or not has nothing to do with it," countered Yu.

Nanako bit her lip in thought. Yu was sure that she was working out some argument in her head, hoping to convince him that she could tackle everything on her own despite his well-founded misgivings. When she did speak, what came out somewhat surprised him.

"Adachi-san told me something," said Nanako. "He told me that you fought him once, in the TV world…and that then after you beat him, you said something to him, like…" She frowned, apparently trying to remember. "Like, 'it's not too late, you can still start over.'"

Yu flinched. He remembered that conversation too, possibly because Adachi had brought it up the last time the two of them had met in the Velvet Room. "He told you about that?" Yu wasn't entirely sure what to follow that up with. _After all, _he told himself, _it's not as though it's anything to be ashamed of…there's no reason why Nanako shouldn't know, now that she's starting to learn the truth._

"Did you mean it?" Nanako's eyes were boring holes into Yu's soul. He tried looking away from her, but could feel her gaze on him, begging him for something that he wasn't sure he could give. He pictured Adachi the way he'd been after the final battle, lying on the ground, deflated, egging the team on to finish the job and kill him off quickly. There had been something in his eyes, then, too, that had felt like a plea for help. It hadn't been angry, or vengeful, or vicious…it had been mostly sad and disgusted, helpless and cowardly. Yu had reached out to that look, and that was when he'd tried to reassure the man who'd probably betrayed his trust and affection more thoroughly than anyone ever had or would again.

"Yes," he told Nanako. "Yes, I think I did mean it, at the time."

"And now?" insisted Nanako. "Don't you mean it now? You told me that you don't think he wants to hurt us, because you think he liked being with us. I think so, too. I think he's really lonely, and he's scared."

_He's a terribly lonely, scared escaped murderer with unfathomable powers of magical destruction, _Yu reminded himself. _Like a dangerous caged animal that's just been unleashed and is starting to panic. It's a hell of a lot less sad when I think about it that way._

Nanako, however, was still pleading with her eyes. Yu sighed.

"Promise me something," he asked. "Promise me that you won't go in there alone, anymore."

"But-!" began Nanako. Yu shook his head, cutting her off.

"Next time," he continued, "we'll go together. I want to be with you when you face that. It's a rule that the rest of us use. No one goes in to the TV world alone, for whatever reason." _And I break that rule on a regular basis_, his mind filled in for him, but he decided not to add that part out loud.

Nanako's face lit up. "Does…does that mean that I'm one of the team?"

"Just promise me," demanded Yu.

Nanako nodded quickly. "I promise. But…" she frowned. "I'm still going. I have to. I promised Margaret, too, and Igor that I'd help."

"Then," agreed Yu, "we'll have to go together." He stood up from the bed, and stretched, feeling suddenly extremely tired. "For now, though, get some sleep. Tomorrow's a school day, and exams are coming up for you, aren't they?"

"It feels so weird," muttered Nanako, mostly to herself, "that I have to think about exams at a time like this."

Yu laughed. "Trust me," he replied, "I understand that, too."

**Meanwhile, downstairs in the kitchen…**

Dojima strode in through the front door, uncertain what he should be hoping to find waiting for him. He was relieved when he discovered that Nanako and Yu weren't there to greet him. Instead, Chie was sitting on the sofa by herself, staring at the turned-off TV, apparently lost in thought.

"Satonaka," he mumbled, then caught himself, shook his head, and added, "Oh, sorry. I mean…Chie. You're up late."

"Me?" asked Chie, raising an eyebrow. "Uh, with all due respect, Dojima-san, you're the one who just got home."

Dojima held his breath, prepared for the questions, but Chie just frowned at him. "Have you been at the station?" she asked. "You told the rest of us to go home early…it doesn't seem fair. If you were going to work late, you should have let us help you. Everything gets done faster with extra hands!"

Something about Chie seemed extra cheerful this evening. Dojima wasn't sure exactly why, but at least she didn't seem to have any idea of what he'd been doing all night, which was a huge relief. Sighing, he sat down next to her on the sofa and located the remote.

"Is Nanako asleep?" he asked.

Chie made a vague gesture in the direction of the stairwell. "I think Yu's helping her study, or something. She looked pretty tired, though, so maybe."

"Oh. Right." Dojima nodded. "That's good. Studying…"

_Nanako was probably here all night, studying alone, while I was out with a woman, _he thought. _I wonder why she didn't call. Maybe she didn't want to bother me at work._

The recently all-too-familiar feeling of insistent guilt began weighing on Dojima's heart again. He surfed absently through a few channels, eventually settling on the news station, which was in the process of showing a program about the prevalence of drunken teenage driving.

"Sheesh," murmured Chie, shaking her head. "Were we that bad when I was a kid? I mean, I didn't even get a driver's license till I turned twenty, but…these kids they're talking about? They're just nuts! Driving's not a joke! It takes a lot of focus, just like martial arts…you have to be disciplined about it, you know?"

Dojima wasn't interested in driving or disciplined drivers at the moment. He'd pulled over enough drunk drivers in his day to be aware that there were some people you could neither encourage nor teach.

_But it's good that she's not worrying about Yu anymore, _he told himself. _She seems a lot happier than she did the other night when he got home in the middle of the night. I wonder if she was worried that…ah, well. It is the beginning of the marriage, that sort of jealousy is pretty typical._

"Satonaka," he asked. "What do you think marriage means?"

Chie turned to stare at him, and Dojima realized that he'd actually asked the question out loud. Embarrassed, he coughed into his sleeve, and changed the channel a few more times until they found themselves listening to the famously catchy Junes jingle.

"Every day's great at your Junes!" sang the TV enthusiastically.

"Marriage?" asked Chie. "Um…I guess it's about being happy together, isn't it? I mean, you get married to someone because you want to make them happy…because you love them, I think, and because you want that love to make them happy. Oh, I guess I'm repeating myself. Was…was that what I was supposed to say?"

"Because you want them to be happy," echoed Dojima thoughtfully. _I don't know if that's what love is, _he thought. _Maybe it's what love is really supposed to be._

"Not that I can cook or anything like that," Chie was muttering to herself. "And I'm not pretty like Yukiko or Rise, so…I don't know if I can really do any of the things that would make him happy, but I have to try anyway, because…well, yeah, because that's what we agreed to do when we got married."

Dojima nodded. "I wouldn't worry about it," he informed him. "You're doing fine. It's the thought that counts."

"I sure hope so," sighed Chie.

**Chapter 55: Chapter Fifty Three: Sunshine, Rainbows**

**Author's Note: **Phew! It may have taken us over 100,000 words, but we're finally back on target! Is everybody ready for the second half of the story? Now, remember, this is a mystery, so I will be (and in fact have been already) dropping subtle clues as we move forward. Keep an eye out for them!

There's a big party coming up in the next couple of chapters, as well as a major turning point in the Dojima and Margaret storyline, so do stay tuned!

I will be telling elements of the prequel story, **Something to Celebrate** into this story as well very soon, so please do check that one out if you want the full **Dreamgirl** universe experience!

Thanks for making this so much fun for me!

**Chapter Fifty Three: Sunshine and Rainbows**

The next morning, Dojima and Chie went their separate ways after breakfast. Chie had requested the morning off, to deal with some personal business or other. When he arrived at the station, Dojima found that Naoto was absent as well, and that only Takahashi was seated at the desk, typing diligently away at the computer he shared with Dojima.

"Where's Shirogane?" asked Dojima, taking his place at the desk. "It's not like her to be late."

Takahashi shrugged. "She called the chief this morning," he said. "Apparently she's got some of her owns tuff to do in town. Says she'll be here by lunchtime."

Dojima frowned. It hadn't seemed too strange that Chie would have to excuse herself, even in the middle of a big case like this one. After all, if he'd been reading the signs correctly, she and Yu were having some of those first-year-of-marriage jitters and issues that were keeping both of them out late and up at night. They'd have things to talk about and to work out together that wouldn't be willing to wait to work to be over. Dojima knew how that felt. He remembered all too well the long, frustrated nights he'd spent trying to figure out if he'd made the right choice and if he was up for the challenge during the first year of his marriage to Chisato.

Naoto, on the other hand, was an experienced, trained private detective, renowned throughout Japan for her professionalism and level of focus. The fact that she was missing at a time like this was something strange and unusual.

_This smells a bit too familiar, _thought Dojima, scowling. _They're up to something again, aren't they? Damn kids…I thought they'd grown out of crap like that by now. It's like the Inaba serial murders all over again. First Adachi's escape, and now those two sneaking off to do god knows what…_

"Hey…Dojima-san?" Takahashi was giving Dojima a very strange look. "You've got a pretty scary look on your face. You okay?"

"Fine," grumbled Dojima. "Just fine."

Chief Taiga strode through the center of the room, in the direction of the coffee machine. He turned briefly to bark a command to someone, and Dojima was surprised by the dark circles hanging down under his eyes.

_He looks beat, _he thought. _No surprise. A death on his team only yesterday, in the middle of the biggest case he's probably gonna face in his career in Inaba. Poor guy must be feeling the pressure._

It wasn't often that Dojima felt sorry for his uppity, unsympathetic superior officer. Still, he couldn't help but feel at least some kind of faint kinship to a man who was carrying the unexpected weight of an escaped killer on his shoulders. _Wasn't too long ago that I was facing pretty much the same thing, _thought Dojima. _At least in his case he knows who the guy is. Doesn't seem to be making him any easier to catch, though._

"Sir," called Dojima, standing up from his desk. The chief turned around and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yes? What is it?" he asked. Even the chief's voice was tired. "Have you found anything?"

"No, sir." Dojima shook his head. "Uh…"

Briefly, he contemplated taking a stern tone with the chief, and admonishing him for not getting enough sleep and for overdoing it at work. He remembered a lecture that his former senpai, Ichihara ad once given him, about pacing himself and making sure to delegate appropriately in order to ensure that he was always at his best in times of need and trouble.

_Not that I ever listened, _he reflected, smiling wryly to himself.

"Is there something I can do for you, Dojima-san?" demanded Taiga impatiently. Dojima frowned.

"No, sir," he muttered. "Uh, actually I have a recommendation for you. There's this fantastic coffee shop they just opened over in Okina."

The chief gave Dojima a blank look. "Y-yes?" he mumbled. "And this is…I'm sorry, is this relevant to the case?"

"It's called 'Ebisu,'" continued Dojima. "They do a great decaf blend. You know, in case you were looking for a new place to try."

The chief opened his mouth, narrowing his eyes as though he were about to launch into a rebuke. Then, he frowned, and sighed.

"Decaf," said Dojima again. "And a good night's sleep."

"Yeah…I know." Slowly, Taiga shook his head and gave Dojima a wry little smile. "Thanks. Now, get back to work."

"Yes sir," nodded Dojima, glad that the chief had, apparently, understood.

_Now, _he thought, _if only I could start taking my own advice…_

The night before, he hadn't gone to sleep at all. He'd been too afraid that if he closed his eyes, he'd find Chisato's disappointed, angry eyes watching him in his dreams.

**Meanwhile, at the Junes food court…**

"So, why'd you call us here" asked Yosuke, as he and the rest of the team took their places around one of the longer tables.

"It sounded important," murmured Yukiko, looking a little excited. "Have you found some new clues to what's really behind all this?"

Everyone was watching Yu expectantly. He shot a look at Chie, who nodded encouragingly from her seat next to Naoto. Yu took a deep breath.

"No," he told Yukiko, "not exactly. There's no new information about the case, but…there has been a new development that I think all of you should know about."

"A new development, huh?" Rise sounded interested. "Ooh…wait, is it something good, or something bad? You don't look very happy…"

_That's a very good question, _thought Yu. _I'm not sure if this qualifies as 'good' or 'bad.' It's a little more complicated than that._

"I need all of you to listen to me,' he began, "until I've finished telling the whole thing. Don't interrupt until I'm done, okay?"

Everyone nodded dutifully.

"Okay." Yu steeled himself. "Well…it's about Nanako."

He proceeded to explain, as succinctly as he could, the events that had taken place the previous night. As the rest of the team gasped and exchanged alarmed looks, he went on to tell them about the promise that he'd forced out of Nanako to never enter the TV world by herself.

"I'm asking for your help," he finished, trying and failing to meet everyone's startled eyes at the same time. "It's clear now that I can't look the other way and pretend this isn't a problem I have to face. If I do, I put Nanako at risk, and…I'm not willing to face or accept that risk. I'm going to have to be the one to continue Adachi's training in the other world. I'm asking all of you to lend me your strength, and to help me protect someone who's very dear to me. I know that's more than I have any right to ask, but…"

"Senpai," murmured Naoto, shaking her head. "You are remarkably obtuse, at times."

"Yeah, jeez," agreed Rise. "We've already told you that we're going to help. You couldn't stop me if you wanted to!"

"We're either in this or we're not," muttered Kanji." 'S been that way from the start. Nanako being involved only makes it more important that we stick together and keep this from getting ugly, you know what I'm saying?"

"But," insisted Yu, "the situation's different now. Now, I'm not just asking you to help me save the world. I'm asking you to help me essentially empower a man who none of us have any reason to trust."

Again, murmurs rippled around the food court.

"Yeah," said Chie shrugging. "I know, we get that. But in the end, you're still asking for our help, right? That's what friends are for. If we leave you alone to take that creep on, it's not like any of us would be able to sleep at night."

From the other end of the table, Yosuke nodded slowly. "We don't have to trust him. Not like any of us ever could. It's you we've gotta put our faith in. I don't see any problem with that, partner."

Yosuke looked a bit strained, and he was talking through clenched teeth, but Yu didn't have any doubt about the determination and sincerity in his eyes.

"Thank you," Yu told them all quietly. "Thank you for everything."

"Whatever," mumbled Kanji. "'It's not like you wouldn't do the exact same thing for any of us. Right, guys?"

"Right!" agreed everyone, nodding and smiling at each other.

Yu looked around into the confident, comforting faces of his friends, and felt a little sliver of that old, childhood invincibility making its way back to the surface of his soul. There were no more secrets. There were no more lies. There was nothing else he had to hide from. Now, the road to victory seemed so much clearer than it ever had before.

Across the table, he caught Yosuke's eye. Yosuke raised an eyebrow.

"Well?" asked Yosuke. "What's next?"

**Shortly thereafter, in the Velvet Room…**

For once, Margaret was not her usual chilly and composed self.

"Hey," said Adachi, as Margaret fumbled with and dropped the persona compendium for the third time that day. "What's up with you? You've been jumpy ever since you got back last night."

Margaret glared at him. "It is absolutely none of your business," she informed him, sighing. "I am simply a bit tired, that is all. It is nothing for you to be concerned about. I am perfectly able to fulfill my duties, as usual."

"Uh huh." Adachi shrugged. "Sure, whatever. Hey, I was just curious. I figure it takes a lot to break through that frigid wall of yours, right?"

Margaret said nothing. She was now glaring at the compendium, which was still lying on the floor.

"It's heavier than usual," she mumbled. "I had never noticed before."

Adachi considered retrieving the book for her, but thought better of it. _Seriously, though, _he told himself, _that is the heaviest book I have ever seen. High school textbooks pale in comparison. That woman must have some pretty impressive muscles._

Not for the first time, he forced his thoughts away from the dangerous topic of Margaret's physique. After all, she wasn't his type. _Way too pushy, _he reminded himself. _And its' like she never smiles…girls are much better looking when they smile._

Margaret sighed heavily, and ran one hand through her perfect blond hair, somehow managing not to disarrange any of it. "The human world is…very complicated," she murmured to herself. "It is not as straightforward as I had expected. The concept of 'dating,' for example…it is much less linear and concrete than it should be. There is so much uncertainty and doubt. It creates…scheduling difficulties, as well. Yes, I would change everything about it, I think."

Adachi was momentarily stunned. "W-wait, hang on," he stammered. "Did you say 'dating?' What the hell are you-?"

The Velvet Room door creaked open, interrupting that train of thought, and Adachi and Margaret both turned around to see Yu walking in.

"Ah, welcome to the Velvet Room!" announced Margaret. As if pointedly contradicting Adachi's earlier sentiment, she smiled.

_Oh, so she'll smile for him, huh? _Thought Adachi, annoyed. _The golden kid…it figures._

"Hello," replied Yu, returning the smile. "I haven't seen you in a while."

Was it Adachi's imagination, or did something like guilt flicker for a moment across Margaret's face? "Yes," she murmured. "I have been very busy on behalf of my Master."

"Where's Nanako?" demanded Adachi rudely. "Don't tell me you locked her in her room, or something. Like that'd do any good. She's got guts, that kid. There's no way she'll stay down for long."

Yu turned a rather cold look on Adachi. "Nanako is still in school," he informed him. "I'm sure she'll want to visit later, when she's finished with her classes."

Adachi wasn't sure what to say to that. He'd been completely expecting Yu to forbid Nanako from ever coming back to the Velvet Room. Now, that didn't seem to be the case at all.

"This time, though," continued Yu, "Nanako and I will be coming together. From now on, your training will be up to the two of us. I promised her that I wouldn't leave her to face you alone."

_Fuck, _thought Adachi, rolling his eyes. "Great," he mumbled sarcastically. "Just what I always wanted. Two dumbasses for the price of one."

"I don't care what you want," retorted Yu. "I can't trust you to be alone with her. That would be insane. It's out of the question."

Adachi sighed. _H_e's _got a point there, _he reflected. _Not like I can argue with that. Still, might have been better to have her sneaking around behind his back than to have to deal with this self-righteous shit every day. I bet Nanako's just over the moon about it. She and her precious 'Big Bro,' fighting together to save the world! Jeez. She probably thinks it's gonna be nothing but sunshine and rainbows from here on it. Not much chance of that._

He couldn't quite explain why, but he felt just the slightest twinge of sadness when he started thinking that way. That feeling, of course, made no sense. What did he have to be sad about?

"I don't think I'll ever be able to believe," Yu was saying, "that you really have any interest in saving our world."

Adachi shrugged. "I don't," he admitted. "It's not like this world's ever done me much good. I don't owe it or any of you anything. I'm not interested in whatever 'noble cause' you're fighting for. I'm only even doing this because your annoying little sister roped me into it."

He had expected that to make you angry, but instead Yu smiled, and shook his head.

"That makes two of us," he muttered. "It is pretty hard to say no to Nanako, isn't it?"

"Yeah, tell me about it," agreed Adachi miserably. "You're lucky she says she doesn't want to date. Kid could be a legend with the boys at school. Sure seems to know how to get what she wants…"

**Chapter 56: Chapter Fifty Four: Celebration, Part 1**

**Author's Note: **I found a new story to recommend! **DR-J33** has started a Persona 4 story called **A Brand New Year, **and so far the characterization is excellent! I can't wait to see what happens next! Definitely go check it out.

**Chapter Fifty Four: Celebration, Part One**

After school, Nanako hurried to pack up her things, and ran out to wait for Yu in the parking lot. It wasn't too long until his car pulled up alongside her, but when the window rolled down, it was Chie who leaned out instead of Yu.

"Nanako-chan!" called Chie enthusiastically. "Oh, great, I guess we're not that late. Come on, get in!"

Nanako frowned. She could see Yukiko sitting in the passenger seat next to Chie, but Yu didn't seem to be in the car at all.

"Um…I'm sorry," she began. "I promised Big Bro I'd wait for him, here."

"It's all right," insisted Yukiko. "We called and told him that we were coming to get you."

Nanako shook her head. "But…he and I have to do something," she murmured. "He promised that we'd go somewhere after school, and if I don't wait for him, then he might not take me."

"Nanako." Chie was looking Nanako right in the eyes, now, smiling. "He didn't forget. You'll go later, I'm sure. There's just something important that we have to do first."

"Will you come with us?" asked Yukiko. "Please? We could really use your help."

It was very hard for Nanako to argue with a request like that. After all, after the events of the night before, Chie knew exactly what Nanako was waiting to do. If she said that it was all right, then it probably was.

"Well…okay,' murmured Nanako, climbing into the back seat. Almost as soon as she shut the car door, Chie stomped on the gas and the car took off through the school gates, making alarming whooshing and grinding noises as it exceeded the school zone speed limit.

"Chie," admonished Yukiko, "slow down!"

"Sorry, sorry," sighed Chie. "We're in a huge hurry, though! Everyone's going to start showing up, soon, and I should probably be there to greet them, right? Oh, man, I wish we'd done this yesterday. Oh, do you have your seatbelt on, Nanako-chan?"

Nanako was really glad that she did. Chie was driving like a maniac, which wasn't something that Nanako approved of at all. _And she's a policeman!_ thought Nanako disapprovingly. _Wherever we're going, it must be really important! I hope everybody's okay…_

After several long and slightly nauseating minutes of Chie taking turns a bit too fast, they pulled into a parking spot right outside of the Okina train station. Chie turned the car off, and Yukiko got out. Nanako was quick to follow suit.

"What are we doing here?" she asked, looking around in surprise.

Chie stepped out of the car and grinned at her. "Shopping, of course! We need new outfits for the big party, tonight! Wow, I haven't been shopping for clothes in ages. At work I always just wear my uniform, and it doesn't have much of a waist…"

"But you look so cool in your uniform," said Yukiko encouragingly. "Cool and professional!"

Chie straightened her shoulders a bit. "You think so? Uh, well, I guess…I always kinda thought it just made me look short. Thanks!"

They continued down the street, with Nanako following at their heels, until they got to the famous Croco Fur Boutique. Nanako had seen girls from school carrying handbags and wearing accessories that had this store's logo stamped all over them, but she'd never shopped here herself, before. It was expensive, and she knew that Dad probably wouldn't like it if he saw her wearing anything with a brand name on it, especially if the brand name was printed across the butt or the chest.

"Um…what party?" she hazarded. "There's a party tonight?"

Yukiko and Chie exchanged a genuinely startled look. "Huh?" asked Yukiko. "Of course, there's a party at your house. To celebrate Yu being back in Inaba for good. Oh…did Yu forget to tell you?"

"I-I'm sure he was just busy!" interrupted Chie quickly, looking a bit flustered. "Or maybe he didn't want to worry you, Nanako, since you've got exams coming up, and all."

Nanako frowned. _How would that worry me? _she wondered. _I love parties…oh, but maybe Dad and Big Bro didn't want me to go, because they think it'll interrupt my studying? Yeah, that sounds more like it._

"In any case," finished Yukiko, "Let's pick out something for all three of us to wear! I don't think we've ever gone shopping with you before, Nanako-chan. Do you have a favorite color? Oh, wait, let me guess. I think it must be…"

**Sometime later, at the Dojima residence…**

"So…" asked Yosuke, as he and Yu began filling the snack bowls that they'd set out on the table in the living room. "Do you, uh, think she's gonna come?"

Teddie shrugged and popped a piece of candy into his mouth. "Probably not," he mumbled around the candy. "It is kinda out of her way, don't you think?"

Yosuke glared at Teddie. "What the hell kind of answer is that?" he demanded. "Hey, come on, I'm looking for a little bit of encouragement here!"

"Quit your worrying, senpai." Kanji reached for one of the snacks that Teddie was munching on, but then caught Yu looking at him and pulled his hand sheepishly away again. "Uh…right, so she either comes or she doesn't. If she shows up, that means she's interested, I guess. If not, then you find another chick. Doesn't get much simpler than that."

Yosuke rolled his eyes. "Oh, great, thanks. Just what I needed; advice from the guy who's been pining over his high school crush for the last ten years."

Kanji bristled. "Hey, like you're one to talk."

Teddie gasped. Suddenly, the room was very quiet.

_Seriously? _thought Yu, rolling his eyes. _Can we really not get along for five minutes at a stretch?_

"Uh…um…" stammered Kanji, looking uncomfortable and out of his depth. "Wait, hang on, that's not what I meant. I was just trying to say that-!"

Luckily for everyone, someone chose that moment to ring the doorbell. Yosuke hurried over to answer it, and Chie, Yukiko, and Nanako came bursting into the room, looking flushed and smiling at each other, all decked out in tight, soft looking sweaters and heels for the occasion.

"Wow!" Teddie beamed at them. "Chie-chan, Yuki-chan, and Nana-chan…three pretty princesses, and I don't know which one to fall for first!"

He strode over and gave Nanako a little bow. She giggled. "Um, does my makeup look okay?" she asked him. "Yukiko let me borrow some. I'm…not very good at putting makeup on."

"You look great, Nanako-chan," Chie assured her. "Way better than I do. Yukiko's been trying to teach me how to wear makeup for years, and I still look like I'm trying too hard whenever I put it on. You're a natural! You barely even need any makeup, because you've got such rosy cheeks to begin with!"

Nanako was clearly delighted.

Again, the doorbell rang, and again, Yosuke rushed over to it. This time, Rise and Naoto walked in. Rise, too, was dressed up for the party, although Naoto was still in her working clothes.

"Good afternoon," announced Naoto, nodding at everyone. "I'm sorry if we're a bit late. Rise asked me to pick her up from the Tofu shop, but I had promised to stay late at the station with Dojima-san. "

Chie bit her lip. "Ooh…you were covering for me, weren't you? Because I asked to leave early? Uh, thanks…sorry about that."

Naoto shook her head. "It's no trouble, really. I don't mind."

While the others engaged in animated conversation, Yu watched Yosuke, who hadn't left his post next to the door. He was staring out through the front window, looking slightly stricken.

"She's not coming, is she?" he asked. "Damnit, I knew this was gonna happen."

Kanji clapped him on the shoulder and started leading him forcibly back towards the table where the rest of the group was congregating. "Dude," muttered Kanji. "You are getting way too intense about this. It's only been, like, five minutes since people even started getting here. Relax, man."

Yosuke sighed. "Again, coming form you…that's not something I want to hear."

Someone turned the TV on, and someone else started an intense conversation about local politics. While Chie and Yosuke argued about whatever they'd seen the most recently on the nightly news, Yu watched Rise interrogating Nanako about how much Yasogami High had changed since they'd been students.

Nanako looked thrilled just to be a part of the group. Her enthusiastic smile lit up her whole face as she chatted happily with Rise, and then with Teddie when he got kicked off of the couch for trying too many times to change the channel.

_Good, _thought Yu, nodding to himself. _It's nice to see her looking so happy, for once. We should do this more often. Then again, I'm not sure we can afford it. Cleaning up the mess after these guys leave is probably going to take hours, too._

Yet again, the doorbell rang. This time, Yosuke was too busy snarling at Chie to notice, so Yu walked over to answer it. Suzume was standing outside, looking uncertain and pale in a light blue dress and a pair of faded tan shoes that might have been passed down from her mother's generation.

"Um…hello," she murmured. "I'm so glad. I was worried that I might not have the right house. Yosuke wrote down the address for me, but his handwriting is a little bit difficult to read."

"Welcome," said Yu, ushering her inside. "I'm glad you could make it. Yosuke's going to be happy to see you."

"Whoa, hey! She's here!" Yosuke, apparently, had noticed the newcomer. Extracting himself from his argument with Chie, he hurried over to Suzume, and grinned at her like a goofy schoolboy. "Um…hi! Cool! Glad you're here! I'm not sure if I can say welcome, because this isn't my place, but…"

"Thank you for having me," replied Suzume politely. She gave the group around the TV a dazed sort of look. "Oh…are these all your friends?"

Yosuke glanced over his shoulder at them. Chie waved pointedly. "R-right!" he said, nodding. "Hey, come on over, I'll introduce you. Chie Satonaka, this is Suzume Moto. And this is Yukiko Amagi, and Kanji Tatsumi…and this here's my cousin, Teddie. This is Rise Kujikawa, and Naoto Shirogane, and Nanako Dojima."

Nanako smiled when Yosuke introduced her, and she darted an excited glance over at Yu. He nodded at her, grinning, and she turned her attention back to Suzume, reaching out to clasp her hand in a gesture of greeting.

"Um, this is my house, too, "said Nanako. "So…welcome! We're happy to have you!"

"It's really a pleasure to meet you all," murmured Suzume, shooting them a smile that was just a little bit stronger than any expression Yu had seen from her before.

**Meanwhile, at the police station…**

Dojima wasn't even a little bit surprised when he found Margaret waiting for him outside of the station after he left for the day.

"I'm so sorry," she told him, biting her lip. "You must think I'm such a forward woman…"

Dojima shook his head. "No, it's fine. Really. Actually, uh, I guess you being forward makes it easier on me. I've never been much good at reading women."

Margaret raised an eyebrow at him, and laughed. "Really? But, you're a detective. Isn't it your job to read people?"

"Right, sure," agreed Dojima, shrugging. "But reading people for work and reading women for, uh, other stuff…those are two totally different things."

They walked together back down the street and towards Margaret's car, which was parked in the spot that Dojima had reserved, but had never much bothered to use.

"Other 'stuff?'" inquired Margaret sweetly.

Dojima carefully did not look her in the eye. _Okay, _he thought. _Well, the kids are all home tonight having some kind of party. Even if I did go straight back, it's not like they'd have any use for some old guy. I'm sure Nanako's enjoying herself with everyone. I'd only be getting in the way. So, uh…well, here goes nothing._

"You're very quiet, Ryotaro," murmured Margaret. "You don't have to go straight home tonight, do you? I know I've been keeping you out very late…"

"Nah, not tonight." Dojima gave her a wry smile. "My nephew and his friends are all over at the house, probably tearing it to pieces. Actually…I was wondering if you wanted to go see a movie or something, in the city. I, uh…I have no idea what's playing, though."

_Not the smoothest delivery ever, _he reflected unhappily. _Oh well. Wasn't too terrible, considering how out of practice I am._

Margaret smiled. "I think I would enjoy that, thank you. I have never been to the movies before. It should be something to look forward to."

As they climbed into Dojima's car, he tried to make sense of Margaret's last comment. "You've never been to the movies? Oh, you mean, in Okina? Well, it is a nice theater. I don't know if it's anything like the ones where you come from, but the seats have armrests."

Margaret looked intrigued. "Do they sell popcorn?" she inquired seriously.

"Uh, yeah, I think so." Dojima nodded. "You like popcorn?"

"I'm not certain," murmured Margaret. "But I think that I might. Is it okay for me to have some?"

**Chapter 57: Chapter Fifty Five: Celebration, Part 2**

**Author's Note: **So, starting this Saturday, I may no longer be able to update on weekends. I'll try and we'll see what happens, but I'll be leaving at seven in the morning and getting back after midnight, and I won't have any time to write in between, so we may have to cut back updates to five days a week.

In the meantime, though, I'll see if I can get two updates out today.

Let's take the focus off of Adachi and put it on Dojima for a little bit.

**Chapter Fifty Five: Celebration, Part Two**

"Ooh! Ooh!" Teddie stood up excitedly from the sofa. "I have an idea! Let's play 'charades!'"

Yosuke raised an eyebrow at him. "Seriously? What are you, six years old? Besides, I'm no actor."

"But," insisted Teddie, "It's an exciting and creative way for all of us to learn new things about each other's interests, and bond as a group."

"Where did you even learn about that game?" Yosuke shook his head. "That's, like, the kind of thing you do on a high school retreat or in a drama class, or something. So, no, it's not happening."

"Although," muttered Chie thoughtfully, "There's definitely someone here I'd like to learn more about." She turned to Suzume, who was sitting next to Yosuke and delicately munching on an animal cracker. "Suzume-san, we don't know anything about you. Tell us a little bit about yourself! We're really curious!"

"Huh? Wait-!" began Yosuke.

"Yeah!" interrupted Rise, latching on to the idea. "Suzume-san, Yosuke talks about you pretty much all the time, but he never tells us any of the good stuff. You're a camerawoman at the TV station, right? Is that fun? Do you get to meet a lot of local celebrities?"

Suzume swallowed the rest of her graham cracker, and gave Rise and Chie both a slightly apprehensive look. Then she cleared her throat. "Well, honestly," she murmured, "No, I don't. Miss Kujikawa, you're really the only local celebrity I've met since I started working here."

Rise smiled, looking a bit proud of herself. Yu had noticed that Rise didn't seem to be too ashamed of her status as a 'celebrity' these days. In fact, she was clearly enjoying it. He wasn't entirely sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Huh?" Kanji frowned. "But, uh, if you work at the TV station, then don't you work with Marie?"

Suzume looked puzzled. "Marie?" she asked.

"He means Mariko Kusumi," clarified Yukiko. "We were all friends together when she was a child, so…"

"Oh, I see." Suzume nodded. "No, actually I've never met Miss Kusumi. We've passed each other in the halls several times, and I even filmed one of her segments once when the usual person was ill, but…we've never said a word to one another. She's a very busy woman, and…well, honestly, she doesn't seem very friendly.

Yu and Yosuke exchanged an understanding look. "Uh," agreed Yosuke, "you're not wrong about that…she can be a little standoffish, I guess."

"Oh, but," added Suzume nervously, "I do really like working at the station. I…I've been told that I'm very good at camera work. I like to make people look good. It's something I can really help with, and that's very, um…fulfilling, I suppose." Again, she hazarded a hesitant smile, and Yu watched Yosuke's whole face light up in response.

"Yes," agreed Yukiko, nodding. "I know what you mean. Being able to excel at something that helps other people can be a really wonderful feeling."

Chie nudged Yu in the ribs. "Wow," she whispered, leaning in. "She likes to make other people look good? Isn't that pretty selfless? Hey, that's a good thing, right? I mean, for Yosuke."

Yu shrugged. "Maybe," he replied. "We're not even sure yet if she's really interested."

"Well…" Chie was chewing on her lip. "She did show up to the party, after all, and it is kind of out of her way. I'd say that's interest. It's definitely a good start, anyway."

"Hey, you two!" called Teddie, interrupting Yu and Chie's conversation. "No secrets! Secrets are no fun at parties! It's a rule."

Yu and Chie turned back around to face the others, to find that everyone seemed to have lost interest in Suzume, and was now staring at them. Chie flushed.

"You two are so cute!" squealed Rise in delight. "You're acting just like newlywed lovebirds, whispering together in the corner like that. I hope you're not whispering about something dirty…"

_It would have been more accurate, _thought Yu wryly, _if she had said 'I hope you ARE whispering about something dirty.' That's what the look on her face says, anyway._

Teddie sighed heavily. "Sometimes watching the two of you makes me so depressed," he moaned. "You're so in love…I wonder if I'll ever find someone to be a cute couple with like that."

"Uh…probably not," muttered Kanji. "No offense, man, but…you have got pretty much no game."

Teddie drew himself up to his full, if unsubstantial height. "How rude!" he declared. "I'll have you know that one of the ladies working at Junes told me just last week that she thought I was utterly charming."

"Yeah, and that lady he's talking about?" Yosuke called across to Kanji. "She's gotta be pushing fifty. I guess he does have game, but not exactly with the right kind of women."

Unexpectedly, Suzume shook her head. "But older women can still fall in love," she informed Yosuke quietly. "It doesn't matter how old you are. That's not important."

Yosuke looked taken aback. "Uh…sure, rig ht, of course," he stammered. "That's…that's not what I was trying to say."

"Suzume's right," agreed Rise, nodding. "But…it is true that you don't see a lot of older men and women starting new couples or falling in love for the first time. Maybe it's because the more you grow up, the busier you get and the less time you have for romance and that sort of thing." She frowned. "Actually, that's kind of depressing. I wonder when it'll be too late for us?"

There was a moment of vaguely uncomfortable silence. In the midst of it, Naoto coughed. "I wouldn't be too concerned about that," she said. "After all, I believe it is entirely a matter of choice. There is no age at which it suddenly becomes impossible to find a partner."

There was something strangely unhappy about the look on Naoto's face, which didn't seem to match what she was saying at all.

"Ooh," breathed Chie suddenly. "Naoto, are you thinking of Dojima-san?"

Naoto's eyes went wide, and she stood up abruptly, looking alarmed. "Wh-what are you talking about? Why would I be thinking about him? That's entirely ridiculous, there's no correlation at all between…"

Chie shook her head. "No, I was talking about that lady who came to visit him at the station the other day. I mean, if even Dojima-san is starting to date again at his age, then there's hope for all of us, right? After all, he's probably the busiest person I know."

"The hell?" Kanji looked startled.

"Chie!' hissed Yosuke. "Not in front of Nanako-chan!"

Everyone went suddenly quiet, and turned to look at Nanako, who was perched on one of the sofa's armrests, patiently listening to the conversation.

Chie turned bright red. "Nanako, that's not what I meant," she began. "It's not like…like he's really dating, or anything. She probably just came to talk to him about the case, that's all. I mean, none of us actually heard what happened, but…that's probably it, right?"

Nanako glanced over at Yu, and then shook her head. "It's okay," she insisted. "If Dad's dating again, then…I don't think I would mind. Actually, it makes me a little happy."

Even Yu was surprised by that one. He turned to stare at Nanako, who smiled at him, and shrugged.

"Is that not what I'm supposed to think?" she asked. "Oh, are you worried that I'd be upset because of Mom? Well, um…can I tell you a secret?"

Everyone nodded, murmuring agreements. Nanako took a deep breath.

"When I was in middle school," she told them, "I was pretty sure that Dad and my math teacher sort of…really liked each other. They got coffee together a few times. I saw them when I was walking home from school. It made me really angry, and I didn't want to talk to him about it. I started doing badly in my math class, too, because I didn't want to see my math teacher, so I wouldn't go to any of her study sessions anymore. I was upset because I think I was worried that he was going to forget all about Mom, and that he was trying to replace her. I hated the fact that he wanted to be with someone else, because it felt like he was giving up on her and that he didn't love her anymore. Um…does that make sense?"

"Yes, it does," agreed Yukiko. "I think a lot of people who've lost parents would understand that feeling."

Nanako nodded. "Okay," she murmured. "Thanks." She went quiet for a moment, then bit her lip and started again. "One day, they stopped seeing each other. I'm not sure what happened, or if they were even really interested in each other. Dad never talked about it, so I didn't ask. Then a little while after that, Big Bro came to visit." Again, Nanako turned her attention back to Yu. "I was so happy to see him and to have him back with us that I forgot all about Dad and my teacher, and then…I guess I realized."

"Realized what?" asked Chie.

"Um, I realized," finished Nanako, "that it's okay to love more than one person. I mean, I love Big Bro very much." She flushed slightly, but went on with her story anyway. "He's always going to be an important part of my family. Before he came to visit that first time, though, Mom was the important third member of my family. She's not here anymore, and Big Bro is, so…now he's the third member. That doesn't mean that he replaced Mom, though. I can love him and love Mom at the same time. I think that if Dad found someone new, it would be sort of the same thing. He could care about a new person, and still care about Mom. He didn't leave her, or abandon her, or hurt her. He still loves her. But it's okay for him to love another person, too. I…I think that's why it doesn't bother me anymore."

Again, silence reigned in the room while everyone took in the purport of what Nanako had said.

"You're so brave, Nanako-chan," whispered Chie. "And you're such a kind person. I don't think everyone would see it that way."

Nanako looked uncomfortable. "I'm really not," she insisted. "That's just…it's just what I think, that's all. Maybe it's different for other people. I don't know."

Everyone began muttering amongst themselves, nodding and smiling in response to Nanako's assertion. Yu walked over and gave Nanako an approving little squeeze on the shoulder, and she looked up at him and smiled.

"Forgive me," murmured Suzume, "but I disagree."

One by one, the muttering voices fell silent again. Everyone looked over at Suzume, who was frowning at one of the couch cushions.

"It doesn't seem right," she went on. "Even if it makes your father happier to be with someone else, isn't that disloyal to the woman he married? Didn't he agree to spend the rest of his life loving your mother? So if he chooses another woman now, that will help him feel better, and feeling better will only make him forget. It seems wrong. It seems…like a betrayal, somehow."

For a moment, Yu was offended on Nanako and Dojima's behalf. He considered speaking up, but was surprised by the sadness that crept into Suzume's face as she spoke. _I wonder if maybe she, too, has lost someone important to her, _he thought. _Maybe even a lover or a husband. It wouldn't be so strange. We're old enough for marriage, and she can't be that much younger than we are._

"I'm sorry," whispered Suzume. "I don't mean to be rude, but…"

Yosuke placed a hand gently on her shoulder. "No," he said, shaking his head. "You're not wrong. I think loyalty is important, too."

Suzume looked up into Yosuke's eyes, and they shared a moment of accord. Yu could tell that he wasn't the only one who felt a little bit uneasy about the way the conversation had turned.

"Charades?" suggested Teddie again.

"Uh, yeah," agreed Kanji, nodding. "Sure, why not? Let's do it."

**Chapter 58: Chapter Fifty Six: The Next Step**

**Author's Note: **Huzzah, I did it! And now, the chapter you have all been waiting for!

Time for me to go to work. See you tomorrow!

**Chapter Fifty Six: The Next Step**

Margaret was laughing and crying at the same time. She was both laughing and crying very hard and very enthusiastically. Dojima wasn't sure quite what to make of it.

The movie they had chosen, called "Flight of the Father," had just ended, and they were now standing in the street outside the theater, each of them holding a large box of popcorn. Margaret also had several smaller boxes of candy in her hands, and had finished a large soda. Both candy and popcorn were getting completely doused with tears as Margaret sobbed. Carefully, hesitantly, Dojima placed a comforting hand on her arm.

"Are…you all right?" he asked. "I didn't think it was that sad of a movie…"

Margaret sniffled, and did her best to regain at least some of her composure. "I'm all right," she insisted, clearing her throat. "I'm…terribly sorry, what a display. You must be angry with me…"

"Huh? No, of course not." Dojima shook his head. "I just can't really tell if you enjoyed the film or not. You, uh, look pretty upset. I think."

"No…no, I loved it." Margaret shook her head emphatically. "It was such an incredible experience. I have…I have never seen anything like it. The sadness, and the moments of triumph…I've never had so many strange feelings torn out of me at one time. When he found his father again, after so many years, I…I've never experienced something like that. I didn't understand, and yet I felt like I understood. I…"

She trailed off, swallowed, and took a deep breath. "I'm so sorry," she murmured, looking genuinely ashamed. "It seems that I have lost control over my emotions. I had no idea that this movie would have that effect. And yet…I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the feelings, even the painful ones. How strange…"

Dojima was honestly a bit alarmed by just how excited Margaret was getting. "You've really never been to a movie before, huh?" he asked. "Wow, I guess I didn't realize." He'd never met anyone in his life who'd never seen a movie.

_Then again, _he reflected, _maybe if I'd kept Nanako away from the TV more when she was a kid, she'd be better off today. That girl is a slave to the TV on Sundays. Can't tear her away from it, sometimes. They say it can rot your brain…_

"You must be very ashamed to be seen with me right now," whispered Margaret. "After all, I am…in such a state."

"Nah, I already told you," insisted Dojima. "It's fine."

Now that he thought about it, he'd never really seen Margaret loose her cool, before. She'd always been calm, composed, and even coy, but never emotional like this. There was something very attractive about that side of her, he decided. Her unguarded, almost sheepish smile was beautifully realistic. She felt more like a woman to him, suddenly, than she'd done since he'd first met her in the shopping district.

"Here," he told her, handing her a napkin that he'd grabbed from the concessions stand inside the theater. "Wipe your eyes."

Margaret did so, then blew her nose, and began looking around for a trash can to toss the napkin into. There didn't seem to be one immediately available. Dojima reached out and took the used napkin from her, jamming it into his pocket.

"Oh," she said, surprised. "But…it's dirty, now."

He shrugged. "I've got kids," he reminded her. "As soon as you've lived with a preschooler, snot and runny noses stop bothering you."

Margaret smiled. "Um…thank you."

They began walking back towards Margaret's car together. "You know, you didn't actually eat any of your popcorn," remarked Dojima, glancing at the mostly full carton. "You didn't like it?"

Margaret wrinkled her nose. "It was…very salty," she admitted. "I felt heavy after I ate one or two of them. Um…I am sorry. I should not have made you purchase something that I was not going to eat."

Dojima liked the way she wrinkled her nose. It was adorable. "Are you still hungry?" he asked.

"No, thank you," she replied. "I don't think so. I did have a lot of candy."

_Well, that's certainly true, _thought Dojima. _I've never seen someone eat that many pieces of chocolate before. I mean, I know women like chocolate, but this was something else…_

"Oh." Margaret was looking at her watch. "It's much later than I expected. Almost midnight."

Dojima frowned. "Yeah," he agreed. "I guess we should get out of here. The house is probably empty by now. I know half the kids at my place have to work in the morning, so I don't think the party'll go too late. I should get home before Nanako starts wondering what happened to me."

"Yes," agreed Margaret. "Of course."

Dojima opened the front car door for Margaret, and she stepped in, waiting for him to take his place in the passenger seat. "Such a gentleman," she murmured approvingly. Dojima laughed.

They drove together back through the night-lit streets and into the town of Inaba, where nightlife was delightfully nonexistent. The ride home didn't take very long due to the lack of traffic at that hour.

They pulled up outside the Dojima residence to see that all the lights in the house were off.

"It looks as though you were correct," said Margaret. "Everyone does appear to have gone to sleep."

There was something strange in her voice that Dojima couldn't quite place, almost as though she was frustrated about something. He wondered if maybe she was just getting tired. It was, after all, very late.

_The coast is probably clear, _said a tempting little voice at the back of his mind. _Now's my chance. I should invite her in._

"No way," he muttered, shaking his head.

Margaret raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Uh, it's nothing, sorry." Dojima sighed. "Well, um, listen…I had a good time, tonight. Thanks for coming out with me."

"It was my pleasure," murmured Margaret. "And thank you for being so patient with me."

They sat there in the car seats for a moment. Dojima seemed to be having trouble breaking away.

_Well, _he thought, _if the kids are really all asleep, and everybody else is gone, then…_

"Would you like to share a drink with me?" he asked. "I can, uh, go and grab us a bottle of sake from the house. Sorry, but…that's pretty much all I've got. That, water, and coffee."

Margaret shook her head, giving him a mocking little smile. "That's all?" she asked. "Nothing else? You drink too much, Ryotaro."

Dojima ran his hand through his hair. "Yeah, "he mumbled. "You sound like Nanako. She says I drink too much all the time."

He hurried into the darkened house, and tiptoed up the stairs. Nanako and Yu's doors were both closed, but he took extra care nonetheless. It took him a few minutes of rummaging around underneath his bed until he came up with an unopened bottle of sake. Then he had to spend several more minutes finding a pair of clean glasses that looked classy enough to be used on a date. He was half afraid, as he walked back outside with the drinks, that Margaret might have gotten bored and left.

Her car, however, was still waiting in the driveway. "Sorry," he muttered, passing her one of the glasses and pouring her the sake. "My house is kind of a mess."

"Because of the party?" inquired Margaret.

_My house is always a mess, _thought Dojima. "Uh, cheers," he told her.

She took a swig out of her glass of sake, and Dojima felt a little shiver run down his spine as he watched her.

_Hell, _he thought. _She even drinks like a lady._

**Meanwhile, in Yu's bedroom…**

"I think Dad's home!" hissed Nanako in alarm, listening to the sound of the door opening downstairs.

"Jeez," whispered Chie. "Why now? Come on, let's just go."

She stepped carefully through the TV screen, followed by Yu. Nanako, glancing once over her shoulder first, hurried to bring up the rear.

The Velvet Room door lay glowing a few feet in front of them. Yu started immediately towards it, but Nanako touched his arm, stopping him mid-stride.

"Big Bro?" she asked. "Can I ask you something?"

Yu turned around. "Yes, of course. What is it?"

Nanako knew, of course, that now wasn't really the time. After all, they were in the midst of an important training mission, or were at least about to start one. Still, this had been bothering her terribly ever since the party had ground to a stop, and now that they were finally alone together, she wanted to get the worry off of her chest.

"Do you agree with what Suzume-san said?" she asked, biting her lip. "About…about it not being okay to be with someone else, even if that makes you happy?"

Yu and Chie exchanged a quick look. "No, I don't," replied Yu. "I think you were right, Nanako. I think everyone deserves the chance to be happy. I wish everyone could be as clear-sighted about that as you are. Maybe if Yosuke could only see things the way that you do…"

"And I think that's what your Mom would have wanted," interrupted Chie. "Nanako-chan, I didn't know your mother, and I don't mean to sound like I'm saying things that I shouldn't, but…I think anyone who really loves someone else would want that person to be happy, no matter what that means. I think that's what love really is."

As Yu pushed open the door to the Velvet Room, Nanako nodded to herself. _Yes, _she thought, _that's right. Mom would want Dad to be happy. Just like I want Dad to be happy. And…Big Bro, and Chie, and Adachi-san; I want them all to be happy, too._

"Hey, guys?" called Chie. "Wait, hang on, don't leave me out here alone!"

**Meanwhile, back in Dojima's car…**

_She drinks like a lady, and she can seriously hold her liquor, _thought Dojima, amending his earlier sentiment as he watched Margaret down her fourth glass of sake. He was starting to feel a bit too warm and light-headed, probably due to the effects of the drink. His thoughts were coming more slowly and less clearly. _Good thing I'm already home…no way I could drive, like this._

"This is delicious," murmured Margaret thoughtfully. "Thank you for sharing this with me."

"Wow," muttered Dojima. "You're um…you're a good drinker, huh?"

"Hmm?" Margaret raised an eyebrow at him. "A 'good drinker?'"

"N-nevermind." Dojima shook his head, which was starting to feel fuzzy. _Nanako would be embarrassed if she could see me right now. Chisato, too…she hated it when I used to come home drunk. Nanako makes that same face, now, that Chisato used to make. Her same, disappointed face._

Yet again, the image of Chisato frowning sadly at him filled his mind, and he shook his head, rolling down the window and dumping the rest of his unfinished drink out onto the ground next to the car.

"Look, Margaret," he began slowly. "Uh…you know that I'm married, right?"

"I understand," said Margaret, "that you are a widower, yes. Your wedding ring…you wear it, still." She gestured to the ring, and Dojima glanced down at it, as if surprised to still see it there. Putting it on in the morning had become a beloved habit. He'd almost forgotten that it was even there.

_But if it wasn't there, _he realized, _I'd notice._

"Yeah," he muttered. "Right. So…you get what I'm saying? I don't see how this is going to work. I'm not exactly a free man. I'm never gonna be unattached. I'm spoken for. Uh…"

Margaret was quiet for a long moment. Then she said, very carefully, with very little emotion at all in her voice, "If I understand correctly, then your wife has passed away. Forgive me for being blunt, but does that not allow you to pursue the company of other women?"

The comment was so cold, so much like the Margaret he'd met at first and so unlike the woman he'd just been drinking with that Dojima was taken aback." Well, uh, legally, yes," he stammered, uncomfortable. "That's…not what I'm trying to say. It's just that I'm…always gonna be in love with my wife. I don't ever want to give that up. That's not something I'm looking for. I don't even know how old you are, but…it doesn't seem fair, does it? To ask you to accept something like that. I mean, you look young. You've probably got years to find a guy who's gonna think only about you. I'm…never gonna be that guy."

It seemed like a perfectly logical thing to say, especially after having only known Margaret for a few days. _It would be bad to let things go any farther and to let her start getting attached to me, _he knew. _That'd only upset her in the end. Better to cut it off before it has a chance to turn into anything awkward._

At the same time, however, Dojima knew that it was already too late. Maybe it was only because she'd shown more interest in him than any woman had in years, but every time Margaret smiled or laughed, or moved her head to one side, or wrinkled her nose, Dojima could feel that he was already starting to get hooked.

_This will not end well, _he told himself, _if it doesn't end now._

"I'm sorry," he muttered, shaking his head. "I know that's not what you wanted to hear. I'm not very good at this kind of thing, but…"

Margaret placed a hand on top of his, and he stopped talking immediately. "You're a good man, Ryotaro," she said, and there was something new and strange in her voice. She sounded uncharacteristically uncertain as she went on. "You care about people. That is…a wonderful thing, I think. You even care about…about me. I've never experienced anything like that, before."

She bit her lip, hesitated, and then placed her glass of sake down on the car floor. Leaning into him, she kissed him lightly on the corner of his mouth.

"Ah," muttered Dojima. He knew he should pull away, but somehow his body wasn't responding properly.

Margaret dropped her eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "Was that not-?"

Dojima's hands moved of their own accord. He wrapped his arms around Margaret and drew her to him, kissing her full on the mouth and listening to the sift intake of breath that she gave as soon as his lips closed over hers. Old, long dormant sensations began stirring again in his body and soul. His face was hot and the skin of his hands and fingers was tingling uncomfortably.

Eventually, very carefully, he drew away from Margaret, and watched the startled look on her face as she pressed two fingers lightly to her lips where he'd kissed her. He could feel himself breathing oddly, while his heart did unwelcome somersaults.

_Okay, _he thought. _Yeah._

"W-would you like to come in?" he managed to ask.

**Chapter 59: Chapter Fifty Seven: Feel**

**Authors' Note: **Thanks for being patient with me. The past few days have been extremely busy.

After reviewing some of your comments and critiques, I've gone back and edited a few of my notes. I've done some replotting and have planned a few new very exciting things for this story, and there are a lot of interesting new twists, scenes, and pairings planned, so I hope that's something you can look forward to! I'm looking forward to it, anyway.

Now, the end of this chapter contains an ambiguous moment. I'm going to let you draw your own conclusions, for the sake of those readers who find intimate scenes uncomfortable. If you do want to see a slightly more detailed scene between Margaret and Dojima, please let me know and I will post it in **Daydreams** for your perusal.

I can see that some of you are getting restless with the romance and character stuff, so I'm going to pick up the pace again in the next few chapters. Keep an eye out for more clues/victims, and there will be another big shadow battle very soon. Naoto, Rise, Yu, and Teddie still need their new personas, so we've got a ways to go...

**Chapter Fifty Seven: Feel**

Yu, Nanako, Chie and Adachi had ultimately decided to begin their training on the second floor of Magatsu Inaba. At first, Yu had been sure that it would be a good place to start, because of how comfortable Adachi would probably feel in it. _After all,_ reasoned Yu, _it did come from inside of him. Wouldn't that be the best place to start, then?_

Apparently, though, Yu had calculated wrong. Adachi didn't seem comfortable at all. In fact, every time something moved or made a sound, Adachi would spin around and stare in all directions, sweat breaking out on his brow. He looked distracted and uncertain, like something about the atmosphere or the environment was creeping him out and throwing him off. He didn't look anything close to as confident, in fact, as he had when Yu had watched him decimated Chie's new shadow only the day before.

_Well, uncertain and confused is better than vicious and murderous, _thought Yu. He tried not to feel too pleased that Adachi didn't' appear to be enjoying himself. _After all, _he told himself, _isn't that the kind of thing Adachi would think? He'd be pretty happy to see me looking uncomfortable. I need to be the bigger man._

Those thoughts, though noble, weren't having entirely the desired effect. Every time Adachi flinched, Yu felt just a hint of satisfaction in his soul.

The party was presently in the process of defeating a shadow that was only vaguely shaped like a fat policeman with a hole in the middle. Chie lashed out at it with one of her vicious kicks, which unfortunately bounced right off and sent her flying back into Nanako. Nanako caught and steadied Chie, while Yu moved forward to intercept the shadow.

"Ziodyne!" he announced, and a bolt of lightning shot out of Izanagi-no-Okami. The shadow staggered, looked temporarily startled, and then disappeared into a cloud of red and black essence.

"Oh…" For some reason, Nanako bit her lip. "Again…"

Standing a few feet behind them, Adachi yawned, looking bored. "Yup. What does that make it, now? Five enemies that the great Narukami's defeated without my help, right? So, uh, what exactly am I doing here? Can I go back to the Velvet Room? Sheesh, this is a waste of time…"

"Big Bro…" Nanako planted her hands on her hips and gave Yu a disappointed look. "We're here to help Adachi-san train, remember? You can't get all the shadows by yourself. If you do, this won't work and he won't get any stronger!"

_And that, _thought Yu, _would be great. _Still, he found himself looking sheepishly away from Nanako, slightly ashamed under her scrutiny. _Hey, it's not like I'm doing it on purpose. I can't just stand by and let the shadows do whatever they want until Adachi decides to step in and start attacking. Chie could have gotten seriously hurt if that shadow had decided to retaliate. And…Izanagi-no-Okami is very strong. That's a fact. There's no way around that. I worked hard to obtain that kind of power, so that I could keep people like Adachi from getting stronger. And…now I'm talking myself in circles, aren't I?_

For the moment, it didn't appear that there were any shadows left in the vicinity. The party stood waiting for several minutes, but nothing approached.

"Do you think we got all of them?" asked Chie, looking around. "Um, maybe we should call it a day. There's always tomorrow…"

"But Adachi-san still hasn't gotten any training in!" insisted Nanako firmly. "We can't leave yet. Let's try somewhere else."

Without waiting for anyone else to argue with her, Nanako took Adachi forcibly by the arm and began moving off in the direction of the stairs.

"Uh, hey, whoa, relax!" protested Adachi as Nanako dragged him off. "I'm coming, okay? You don't have to pull! What the hell's gotten into you, huh?"

Yu sighed. He glanced over at Chie, who shrugged. "She's pretty serious about this," said Chie.

"Yeah," muttered Yu. "I noticed."

For just a moment, he was jealous, and that felt strange. _I wish I could believe like she does, _he realized. _I envy that kind of optimism. Once upon a time, we were all like that…and I think we might have been happier people for it._

He frowned. _But at least in this case, the optimism didn't pay off. I wanted to believe in him then, but that was misplaced trust. "It's not too late, you can still start over," huh? What did I say that for? I wish I could remember…_

"H-hey, Yu-kun." Chie was looking worried. "Don't get too upset. We'll come back together, tomorrow. Nanako-chan won't be facing this alone anymore…and neither will you. We'll figure it out, okay? You don't have to worry about her. I promise, we won't let anything happen."

Yu shook his head. "Thanks, but there's something else I need you to do, tomorrow."

Chie looked surprised, but nodded instantly. "Sure, yeah. What's up?"

"That policeman, Fujioka," began Yu. "The one who passed away. I need you and Naoto to find out as much about him as you can."

Chie looked puzzled. "You mean, about how he died?" she asked. "Um, the chief said that they didn't find anything special. It really looks like he overdid it when he was drinking, and…well, uh, that's that. There were no fingerprints or anything in the house that didn't belong to him or to his girlfriend. It doesn't look like anybody else was involved. He was just…really sad, I guess."

"I know how he died," replied Yu. "I understand that there wasn't any foul play…at least, not our world. What I want to know is what he was really like. I want to know more about him, about his life and his habits, and…honestly, anything that we could use to figure out why this happened to him."

"You think he died because of what's going on in this world?" asked Chie, biting her lip.

Yu shrugged. "Don't you?" he asked.

Chie nodded. "Yeah. And so does Naoto-kun. I…I don't honestly have a good reason for thinking that, though. It's just a feeling in my gut, but…"

Yu couldn't help but smile at that, thinking of Chie's motto, "Don't think, feel." "I'm willing to put some trust in your gut feelings," he told her. "Besides, it's too much of a coincidence to just ignore. Can you and Naoto talk to his girlfriend?"

"Yeah. We…we'll try." Chie glanced down at her feet for a moment. "I was really hoping that it wasn't going to be like this," she admitted quietly. "I was hoping that maybe this time there wouldn't be any deaths, or murders, or whatever. I guess that was stupid."

Yu wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and gave her a quick, comforting hug. "There's nothing wrong with a little optimism," he informed her. "It keeps us sane. We need it. Come on, let's go look for Nanako and Adachi before things get out of hand."

It was only after he and Chie had begun making for the exit that he realized just exactly what he'd said.

**Meanwhile, at the Dojima residence…**

The floorboards in the house were noisy. They sometimes creaked, and Dojima himself was more used to stomping around and slamming things than he was to tiptoeing quietly through the house, even at this hour of night. As he and Margaret made their way slowly into the kitchen, he was suddenly more aware than he'd ever been before of every little sound his feet made against the floor. Even his own breathing sounded too loud to his ears.

Margaret, on the other hand, looked totally unperturbed, although she did seem fascinated by the house itself. She kept peering around corners, into the kitchen and around the staircase, smiling and nodding to herself as she examined the various appliances and the sparsely decorated walls.

"Sorry," muttered Dojima. "I didn't really plan for company. It's a bit messy. Like I said, my nephew and his wife just moved in, and I've got a seventeen year old, so…"

"Oh." Margaret frowned. "No, I apologize. I am being shamelessly nosy. You do have a very lovely home. It is…very different from mine. I'm intrigued."

_Yeah, _thought Dojima. _I bet your couch isn't covered with last week's laundry. Not that it can be helped, I guess. I mean, It is exam time, and I'd really prefer Nanako study for her exams than spend all her time hanging the damn laundry out. Still…it's like she's been on another planet, lately. Then again…like I've got a right to talk._

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Margaret smiling at him. His heart did another nauseating acrobatic.

"Um, if you want to come upstairs," he mumbled. Margaret nodded, and he led her up the staircase and to the door of his own bedroom. Nanako's door and Yu and Chie's door were still both shut. He couldn't hear talking or the TV from either room, so he could only assume that everyone was really asleep.

"Listen," mumbled Dojima, still listening desperately for any sound from Nanako's room. "I don't want you to feel like you have to do this, or something. After the stuff, I said, if you're not interested, that's fine. I'm not gonna-!"

"No, I am interested." Margaret shook her head. "As a matter of fact, the only romantic experience that I have ever had before was with a much younger man…a boy, in fact. I'm very curious to see what it might be like with an older man."

That statement completely floored Dojima for a moment. _Younger…a boy? _He asked himself. _What the…what the hell is that supposed to mean? Is this woman a pedophile, or something? _He looked into Margaret's gently smiling face, and couldn't believe that was true. _Nah, that's not right. I guess she means that the last time she was with a guy, she was still a kid. I still don't know how damn old she is, so maybe it wasn't even that long ago…uh…_

"So, you're saying it's been a long time for you too, right?" he asked, hoping she'd clarify. Margaret just nodded. Resignedly, Dojima pulled open the bedroom door, and he and Margaret went inside. He closed it behind him and then turned to find her standing next to his futon.

"You can sit down," he told her. "All I've got is the desk chair and the…"

Margaret sat down on the futon. Dojima took a deep breath.

_This is weakness, _he told himself, making one last effort at refusing the urges and long-unfamiliar desires that were trying to take over his conscious mind. _I should know better than this. I do know better than this. _The wedding ring on his finger felt heavy and hot. For the first time in his memory, he wanted to take it off. It was weighing against both his skin and conscience in a very uncomfortable way.

"Please," murmured Margaret. "Join me." She touched the place on the futon next to her, and Dojima slowly sank on to it.

**Chapter 60: Chapter Fifty Eight: 112**

**Author's Note: **So, I try to read all of your reviews very carefully, to see what it is you like and don't like. This week, I've received several reviews that say some of you are hoping to see more of the Nanako x Adachi pairing in this story.

…Nanako x Adachi? As in, the two of them in a romantic or sexual relationship? Seriously? That's…well, it's definitely not something I was planning on doing in this story. I'll be honest with you; I seriously considered it after reading those reviews, and the answer is still no. I just do not see that ending well, at least in this story.

**I will, however, try anything once! **If you really like the Nanako x Adachi pairing, please let me know. I will write a short side/companion story focused on the Nanako x Adachi pairing, and we'll see if that changes my opinion about them as a couple. I'm skeptical, but I'm up for the challenge!

**Chapter Fifty Eight: 112**

The next morning, Dojima woke up feeling genuinely more well-rested than he had in days. For once, the beautiful but angry face of Chisato hadn't appeared in his dreams, and he'd slept soundly and peacefully.

Mumbling sleepily to himself and stretching both arms over his head, he risked a glance at the bedside clock. "Time to get up," he muttered to himself. "Oh well. It was nice while it lasted…"

"Hmm?" murmured Margaret, turning over onto her side and pushing some of hair out of her face. "Really? Already? Ah, well. I see."

Dojima stared. His jaw dropped open. "Wha…what are you doing here?" Margaret's shoulders and back were bare beneath the blanket she was holding. _Ah, _thought Dojima, as memories of the evening before came flooding abruptly back. They were remarkably vivid, almost tangible memories, and Dojima felt his face heat up as it occurred to him to check as to whether or not he was currently wearing pants.

He was. He was just about to be relieved on that score when he realized with a jolt that something else was missing. He couldn't feel the wedding ring on his finger, and when he reached for it, it wasn't there. Instead, he could see it sitting on top of the bedside table, gleaming dully at him.

"No," he muttered, shaking his head. "I couldn't have…um." Waves of guilt were now crashing over him he grabbed the ring and jammed it back on to his finger. He felt for a moment as though he might be sick, but managed to choke the nausea back down before scrambling hurriedly out of the futon.

_I…guess I had too much to drink last night, _he thought, his mind trying to make sense of the memories, the pride, and the guilt all at the same time. _God damnit…oughta be ashamed of myself._

Turning around, he found Margaret gazing at him with a wistful, almost sad look on her face.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked him.

"Uh, yeah. I did, thanks," he mumbled. "What about you?"

Margaret smiled, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. "I slept very nicely, thank you."

Briefly, Dojima considered asking her how it had been, and if she'd preferred her "romantic experience" with a grown man over any boys she'd been with in the past. He didn't quite have the guts to do it, and Margaret didn't give him the opportunity.

"Your daughter and nephew will be awake soon," she informed him. "Perhaps I should leave discreetly…by the window."

Again, Dojima found himself staring. It probably didn't help that she still wasn't dressed. "What?" he asked, shaking his head and averting his eyes."No, that's crazy. You're not jumping out of the window."

"But, your daughter-!" began Margaret. Dojima held up a hand to cut her off.

"Look," he said, taking a deep breath. "I invited you into my home. You're welcome here. There's no reason for you to sneak out like some kind of thief; you haven't done anything wrong. If I've got to answer to Nanako, then…" he swallowed, but held his ground. "Then I guess I'll do it. It's not your responsibility to cover for me. Just…put some clothes on."

Margaret didn't say anything for a moment. "You really are a gentleman after all," she murmured eventually. Again, she sounded slightly sad.

Dojima cleared his throat. "I need some coffee to wake me up for work," he told her. "Uh, the bathroom's just through that door. Feel free to use the shower. I'll go downstairs and make us two cups."

Then he left, closing the door quickly behind him. He heard Margaret shift under the covers as he frankly fled from the room, pulling a shirt on as he hurried down the hall.

Nanako was already in the kitchen, looking sleepy while she shoveled eggs into her mouth. Dojima paused on the threshold, waiting for the blow to fall. _If she heard anything last night…_he realized, wincing. Nanako, however, didn't seem to take any notice.

"Morning, Dad," she said. "You'd better hurry, or you're gonna be late. Chie-san's already gone." Dojima tried not to think about just how much Nanako looked like her mother this morning. _She looks like her mother every morning_, he reminded himself. _There's nothing special about today. I should spend more time thinking about her mother and less time messing around and getting myself into crap like this. I should spend more time noticing how much more Nanako looks like Chisato._

"You look tired," he told her, as the coffee machine began its work. "Up late studying?"

"Mmm," mumbled Nanako, sighing.

Dojima couldn't help but smile at her. "That's my girl." He leaned over to kiss the top of her head, and Nanako glanced up at him, looking startled.

"You're happy today," she told him. "Did something happen at work?"

_Happy? _Thought Dojima. _No, that's not it at all. _"Nothing, no," he said. "Guess I just got some real sleep, for once."

Nanako smiled and nodded. "That's good. You always look so tired…it's nice that you're feeling better."

After Nanako had waved goodbye and closed the front door behind her, Dojima continued standing in the kitchen, confused and frustrated by the rollercoaster his emotions seemed set on riding. Just looking at Nanako and seeing the innocent, trusting way she smiled at him made him feel even worse than he had when he'd woken up to find that he'd inadvertently or unconsciously given up his wedding ring, and yet…

_Happy, huh? _he wondered. _Yeah…maybe. I guess._

Margaret, he remembered, was still waiting for him upstairs, and he quickly finished pouring the coffee. Heading back up to his own bedroom, he threw the door open to find that Margaret wasn't there. The shower wasn't running, either, and when he knocked on the bathroom door, there was no answer.

Fearing the worst, Dojima took a look at the window. It was still firmly closed, and there was no sign that anyone had tried to leave the house that way. There was, however, a little note tucked against the windowsill. Dojima picked it up and read it. It said:

_If you'll excuse me. Thank you._

_Margaret_

Letting out a sharp, frustrated breath that he didn't realize he'd been holding in, Dojima tried not to be too disappointed. There was no denying that he'd kind of been looking forward to that morning cup of coffee with her, despite all misgivings and conscience twinges. Thinking about drinking coffee with her reminded him of the ladylike way she'd sipped her sake the night before, and Dojima sighed heavily, sitting back down again on the futon.

"Where did she go?" he wondered aloud, staring out the window.

**Meanwhile, in the Velvet Room…**

Adachi looked up as Margaret slunk back through the door. Her hair wasn't perfect, and her eyes were hooded over. _Like she's hung over, or something, _thought Adachi, beginning to get interested.

"Master," murmured Margaret. "I've returned."

Igor raised an eyebrow in Margaret's direction. "Very good," he told her. Then, after a moment's consideration, he added, "You seem tired. I hope that you are not over exerting yourself. You will be very little use to us without your strength."

_Huh, _reflected Adachi, genuinely surprised. _If I didn't know better, I'd say Big Nose is trying to tell her that he cares. Who would have thought he even had feelings? Good to know._

"I'm…I'm fine," insisted Margaret, with much less surety than usual. "I will not disappoint you. I…may, however, need a few moments to sit down. My head is in terrible pain."

Margaret sank into her seat next to Igor, and pressed a hand to her brow. Igor continued frowning at her for a moment, and then nodded.

"I do not believe any further efforts will be necessary on your part, in any case," he informed her. Margaret's eyes shot fully open, and she turned to stare at him. "As we now have two of our guests working together to assist with the training procedures, I doubt there is any further need of your distractions in the human world. You have done well. You should be pleased."

Margaret opened her mouth as though she was going to speak, then paused, sighed, shook her head, and closed her mouth again. "If…that is what you think is best, Master," she murmured. "Yes. Yes, I think that may be for the best, after all."

_What the hell is all this? _wondered Adachi. "Hey, what's going on?" he asked. "You go out drinking last night, or something?"

Margaret gave him a stony, quelling look. Adachi sighed. Shrugging, he got to his feet again and made for the door that led out into the TV world. "Fine," he muttered. "Forget I asked…"

He made his way across the landscape of the TV world, strolling along lazily without any kind of plan. Wandering aimlessly down one street and up another, he didn't encounter any shadows, although he did hear a few rustlings and squeaking that implied shadows may have been watching him from somewhere nearby. Ever since he'd begun using his new persona, shadows seemed to be steering clearer and clearer of him, and now it was pretty hard for him to find anything to fight.

_Guess they're not as stupid as I thought they were, _he decided. _They know what's best for them, sometimes. They know they're no match for me._

A scuttling sound just to Adachi's left got his attention, and he turned his head to see the black tentacles of a shadow retreating off as quickly as they could. Grinning to himself, he gave unhurried chase, listening for the sounds of movement that might give the shadow away. He was so distracted by trying to hear the shadow, in fact, that he didn't notice exactly where he was going, and was surprised when he stepped around a corner and found himself staring at what looked like a run-down old apartment building, complete with weeds growing along the windowsills and faint movement visible behind the cloudy windows on each floor.

"Huh," he muttered. "Well, that's different." Closing the gap between him and the building, he pulled open the front door, and stepped into the first floor hallway.

There were rows of doors along the walls, each of them with an apartment number engraved onto their face. Adachi grabbed one of the doorknobs and pulled, but it was locked. He walked a few paces down the hall and tried another knob, but that door, too, was locked. "Lame," he mumbled.

It was then that he noticed one door, down at the very far end of the hallway, which was glowing faintly in the gloom. The number "112B" was engraved on that door, and Adachi walked over to it.

He knew before he tried the knob that this one was going to open. Maybe it was his detective instinct, or maybe just a gut response to the fact that the door was so obviously different from all of the others.

_Yup, _he told himself. _This is a bad idea. I mean…who the hell knows what could be behind door number one?_

"Persona," he muttered. Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto materialized just in front of him, grinning manically and quivering with excitement. Adachi could feel the thrills rushing through him as she gazed with interest at the door.

Together, they stepped through.

**Chapter 61: Chapter Fifty Nine: Legwork**

**Author's Note: **All right, my favorite, beloved readers. Remember a few weeks ago when I suggested that you go and check out **FallingStarXan's** story, **Warp and Weft? **Well, it's gotten even better since then, and yet for some totally inexplicable reason, the story isn't getting that many reviews!

Riddle me this: If you could change the gender of any one character in P4, who would it be, and why?

Here's a second update for today, since I don't think I will be able to update tomorrow, or during the three day weekend.

**Chapter Fifty Nine: Legwork**

Dojima didn't have any way of getting in touch with Margaret, and wasn't sure what he would have said even if he could have spoken to her. Forcing his mind away from visions of her bare shoulders and her lips on a sake glass, Dojima hurried to work and spent his morning devoting himself to the Adachi escape case.

Just as Nanako had said, Chie had left early, and had beaten him to the desk. She and Naoto were in the middle of having a conversation in hushed voices, and yet again Dojima got the sense that something was off about the way they were acting. They were too secretive and too excited, and it raised the hackles on the back of his neck as he reminded himself, not for the first time, that he needed to confront at least Chie about it and get the truth out of her as to what was going on.

While Dojima was stewing, Chief Taiga walked by, and Chie hailed him. He crossed over to their desk, and Dojima was startled by the difference in the man's face. If Dojima had thought that the chief looked tired the day before, then that was nothing in comparison to the way he looked now. The man's face was positively haggard, and there were worry and stress wrinkles beginning to set in under his eyes.

"Um, excuse me, sir?" asked Chie. "Do you have a second? Naoto and I wanted to ask you about how we could get in touch with Fujioka's girlfriend."

Dojima was surprised, and Taiga raised an eyebrow. "What for?" he asked. "I would have thought you'd have wanted that information when the tragedy first occurred."

"Yes," agreed Naoto. "Of course. However, we recently discovered that Officer Narukami still has an old photograph of the two of them together during training sessions. She is interested in sending that photograph to Officer Fujioka's girlfriend."

"Right!" added Chie quickly. "You know, in case she wants some pictures of him from the station. Because…she lives so far away, and…um…maybe she's never seen him with his coworkers, or in his uniform."

Chie and Naoto were both nodding innocently at the chief. Dojima frowned. _What's this all about? _he wondered. _I've never seen any photograph…and Satonaka wasn't even on the same schedule as Fujioka during training. How could they have a picture together? I didn't even know they were friends._

"Well," muttered the chief, his face softening. "That certainly seems reasonable. Yes…she might really like to receive a photograph. The address is on my desk, in the green binder. Feel free to go and retrieve it if you're interested."

Chie and Naoto glanced at each other, nodded, and then both stood up and headed for the chief's workspace, leaving Dojima and Taiga alone together at Dojima's desk.

"You look terrible," remarked Dojima.

"Yeah…I know." Taiga shook his head. "Decaf coffee, right?"

"And sleep," Dojima reminded him. "That's the important thing."

Taiga frowned, glowering at the floor. "Easy for you to say," he muttered. "It wasn't your fault."

"It wasn't yours, either, sir," interjected Dojima quickly, and a bit more forcefully than he'd maybe intended. "There was nothing you could have done. Fujioka's home life wasn't any of your concern. You had no control over how he spent his hours outside the station."

For a long moment, Taiga just nodded to himself in silence. Then he glanced back up into Dojima's face, with a strange, rueful sort of smile on his lips.

"Is that how you'd look at it?" he asked. "If you were me? Would you think it wasn't your responsibility?"

Now it was Dojima's turn to avert his eyes. _Well, got me there, _he admitted to himself. "That's hardly the point, sir," he managed to say. "In your situation, I'd be likely to be just as wrong. What Fujioka chose to do to himself is neither of our responsibilities."

"But you don't have the nightmares," muttered Taiga, under his breath. At first, Dojima wasn't sure he'd heard him right.

"Nightmares?" he asked.

Taiga nodded. "I guess I've been overdoing it at the station," he admitted, shrugging and giving Dojima a defiant sort of look. "Last night…and the night before, actually, I started imagining, or maybe dreaming that I could see Fujioka's face staring at me out of the TV set. He was…uh, well, he was crying, and he was drunk. He looked like a wreck, like one of those guys you'd pick up on the side of the road and send home to his wife with a warning. I tried to talk to him, but…he disappeared. Maybe I woke up."

Dojima did his best to keep a straight face, but could already feel the little chills heading down his spine as he listened to Taiga's story. _Sounds familiar, _he thought. _Same thing happened to me with Chisato. I wonder if that's some sort of psychological thing, seeing faces in the TV? They do say that some dreams have meanings. What's that kind of dream supposed to mean?_

**Meanwhile, in the TV world…**

Adachi walked through the glowing door, into a disappointingly cramped and cluttered room. There were pink and white sweaters hanging in the closet, and photographs of children mounted up on the walls. The bed, in the center of the room, had a pink and tan plaid bedspread thrown over it, and there was a strange scent wafting off of it that made Adachi wrinkle his nose.

_Smells like old people, _he thought. _Lonely old people…and cats._

As if in response to that thought, a big orange cat suddenly crawled out from underneath the bed, glaring at Adachi out of menacing, yellow eyes. It bared it's teeth at him and all the fur on its back stood on end. Adachi took a step back, and Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto took her place between him and the cat, grinning down at it with a slightly psychotic gleam in her eye.

"Tch." Adachi shook his head. "Seriously…cat shadows? Give me a break."

Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto lunged at the cat, grabbing at its tail. The cat stepped back just out of her reach, and then extended one feline arm to rake its claws down the side of Adachi's leg.

"Shit!" he shouted, crouching down to protect his now bleeding leg.

Again his persona made a grab for the cat, and this time she managed to get it by one ear. Swinging it up and over her head, she cackled at it and prepared to tear its head clean off of its body. The cat continued to stare at her in midair, apparently unperturbed. Then it suddenly threw itself forward and sank its teeth hard into her forearm, forcing her to shake the arm away and to send the cat flying back through the air. As Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto's arm bled red and black essence, the cat slammed hard into the wall, hit the ground, and then stood up gracefully as though totally unharmed before turning its attention back to Adachi.

"Well, crap," he muttered. "Cats…they've got nine lives, right? Should have guessed. Oh well, hey, I was looking for a challenge. This should be fun."

Again, Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto struggled to apprehend the cat. This time, the cat slid right through her legs and slashed its claws across Adachi's face. He clutched at his cheek as blood began to ooze from there, as well, and tried to shield to shield his face as the cat made to attack again.

"What gives?" he demanded of his persona. "Hey, come on, aren't you supposed to be helping?"

Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto, however, was no longer paying attention the cat. Instead, she was staring at a large oaken dresser in the corner of the room. Adachi followed her gaze, and grimaced as he watched three more cat shadows slide out from behind the dresser.

"Come on…seriously?" he muttered, as the alarm bells began ringing in his head. "No way…"

The three approaching cats hissed at him as he did his best to find a wall to get his back up against.

**Sometime later, at the Junes food court…**

Yu was waiting at one of the long tables with Yosuke when Naoto and Chie came running up.

"We got her!" announced Chie, throwing herself down into a chair. "We spoke to her on the phone just now!"

"Officer Fujioka's girlfriend, Miss Minoru Akiyama," clarified Naoto. "We obtained her contact information from Chief Taiga on pretext of sending her our condolences on the loss of her significant other."

Chie waved a piece of paper under Yu's nose. "I wrote down everything she said," she told him. "I asked her all about what had been bothering him lately, and if she knew anything about what might have driven him to drink. She said that his Mom passed away a few months ago, and that he's been really broken up about it lately. Um…I guess we already knew that, though."

For a moment, Chie frowned. "Go on," encouraged Yu. "Did she tell you anything else?"

Chie glanced down skeptically at the paper. "Not too much," she admitted. "I mean, she said that he used to visit his mom a lot at her old apartment in the city. He went there maybe…three or four days before he died, she thinks. Um…she told me to go there if I want to know anything else about that. Apparently he visited his mom a lot, so lots of the other residents of the building probably knew him pretty well."

Naoto slid a second piece of paper across the table towards Yu. "I have the address here," she informed him. "Hisakawa Building, Room 112B. However, as his mother died months ago, I am certain that the apartment has been entirely cleaned out by now. Apparently Miss Akiyama herself is now the surrogate owner of a certain cat that was once the property of Officer Fujioka's mother. Everything else, she believes, was transferred to Officer Fujioka shortly after his mother's passing.

Yu frowned. "Thanks, guys. That's good. You did a great job."

Naoto sighed. "Not, unfortunately, that I see how any of this information can be of use to us in solving the case. Although it does explain some of Officer Fujioka's movements around the time of his death, and accounts for his drinking himself into such a tragic stupor, it gives us no clues at all as to his link with the TV world. I'm afraid that we haven't been terribly helpful after all."

_Every bit of information adds to our store, _thought Yu. _You can't have too much information, even if we don't see right now how this is going to help us in the end. He's the first victim…so we couldn't notice a pattern yet, even if there was one. At least in the future, we'll be able to link his case up to what happens next._

Yosuke's watch began beeping. "Aw, crap," he mumbled. "I have to get back to work. Hey, are we going into the TV world, today? I'm done in a couple of hours, so I can go."

Yu was surprised. "You want to go? But…I told you, we'll have to meet up with Adachi once we're in there."

Yosuke gritted his teeth. "Yeah, I remember," he growled. "Still, that only makes it more important for me to come along. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't have your back? If you're in there with that guy, then so am I. Nanako-chan too, right? So? I'm coming."

"You may count me in as well," agreed Naoto, nodding. "I have been given the afternoon off by Dojima-san to complete 'legwork.' That leaves me available to accompany you."

"Okay." Yu flashed his friends a quick, grateful smile. "In that case, I guess it's time for me to go pick Nanako up from school."

**Chapter 62: Chapter Sixty: Cat Lady**

**Author's Note: **Okay, the next few chapters are going to have a lot of action. I'll try to post another update today, but if not I'll have it up again on Tuesday. Enjoy your long weekend, everyone, if you have one!

So,l I'm sure the biggest complaint I'm going to get in this chapter is "but what about Yosuke and Naoto? I want to see more of them!" You will, in the next chapter. Actually, that chapter will be all about them, and that will be fun.

Which characters I focus on really depends on the perspective that I'm telling the story from. Since so much of this chapter is told from Adachi's perspective, he's going to pay more attention to Yu and Nanako, whom he knows. He barely knows and doesn't care much about Yosuke and Naoto, and so will hardly notice them.

Next chapter, though, we're switching back to Yu's perspective, so we'll see plenty of his friends. I promise!

**Chapter Sixty: Cat Lady**

Nanako was sitting on the school steps when Yu pulled up in his car. She had her English textbook open on her lap and a highlighter hovering in one hand while she did her best to cram in as many vocabulary words as she could in the midst of all the milling, homebound students.

"Nanako!" called Yu.

Sighing, Nanako shut her textbook and made her way over to the car. "Studying hard?" her cousin asked her.

"Sort of," she mumbled miserably. "It's kind of hard to concentrate, though, with all these people making so much noise. Maybe I'll have better luck at home."

She climbed into Yu's car, and together they drove off into the shopping district. Junes soon loomed up beside them, and Nanako could see Yosuke and Naoto standing just outside the gates. Yosuke waved as Yu and Nanako began walking towards them. "Hey, over here! Nanako-chan, how was school?"

"It was fine," muttered Nanako noncommittally. "Yosuke-san, Naoto-san…are you coming into the other world with us, too?"

"Yep." Yosuke nodded. "And hey, me and your brother have fought together hundreds of times, so this'll be a piece of cake." He grinned. "You just sit back, relax, and leave the hard stuff to us."

Nanako tried to smile back at him, but Yosuke's competence in a fight wasn't really what she was worried about.

_He's going to be really angry when he sees Adachi-san, _she realized. _I wonder if he already knows, or not? Yosuke's really friendly, but he's got a bad temper, sometimes. I don't think it'll be any good if the two of them meet._

She glanced uncertainly at Yu, who placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "That's right," he agreed. "There's nothing to worry about." Nanako relaxed, just a little bit.

"Shall we get going?" asked Naoto, raising an eyebrow. "I would imagine that Nanako-chan wants to hurry home in order to maximize her studying time."

"R-right," mumbled Nanako, not looking forward to that at all.

They passed through the electronics department and entered into the TV world through their favorite TV. While Yosuke and Naoto stood and waited, Yu and Nanako headed into the Velvet Room to find Igor and Margaret seated alone.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," murmured Margaret. For some reason, she wouldn't meet Nanako's eyes, and was clutching unhappily at her right temple.

"Where's Adachi?" asked Yu. "I thought he'd be here."

Igor shrugged. "We have not seen him in some hours, now. He seems to have gone out."

"What the…gone OUT?" demanded Yosuke, turning to Yu. "I thought you said he wasn't supposed to leave the Velvet Room!"

"He wasn't," agreed Yu, clearly frustrated. "We had an agreement that he'd wait for us, here."

"An agreement?" Yosuke snorted. "Like you can really rely on that guy to keep his word in any situation…what if he's out in the real world fucking around right now? Oh man, this is bad…"

Shaking her head, Margaret raised one hand in protest. "I am certain that he has not entered, as you would say, into your 'real world.' Adachi-san often wanders about this world when he finds himself devoid of other things to do. You will no doubt find him within this place, somewhere."

Naoto frowned. "Finding him without Rise's help might be difficult," she said. "Perhaps it would be best if we returned to our side and collected either Rise or Teddie to help us with the search."

Margaret and Igor glanced at each other, and then both looked directly at Nanako. Slowly, Yu, Yosuke, and Naoto all turned to stare at Nanako as well, and she could feel her face growing hot under their scrutiny.

"Wh-what?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

"Can you find him, Nanako?" inquired Yu gently. "I think your persona might have the same kind of powers that Rise has. From what you told me before, it sounds as though you have the kind of persona that can scan a shadow for weaknesses or strengths."

_Yes, _realized Nanako, thinking back on the several battles she and Adachi had fought in which she'd managed to pick out the attributes of the shadows before it had even started to attack. "Yeah," she agreed. "I think I can do that."

"Your affinity to Adachi," added Margaret, "may allow you to use those same powers to pinpoint his location."

"Affinity to Adachi," muttered Yosuke. "That's not a thing…is it?"

Naoto turned and shook her head at him.

"Will you try to find him for us?" asked Yu. "Don't worry about straining yourself. Just do what you think you can do. If it doesn't work, we'll just ask Rise to help us. There's no rush."

The worried look on Yosuke's face gave the lie to Yu's words, but Nanako nodded anyway. Closing her eyes she reached down inside her soul and summoned her persona to the surface, letting that warm feeling of belonging wash over her as it emerged from inside her into the real world

_Adachi-san, _she thought. _Where are you?_

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, Nanako felt a sharp tug against the fabric of her mind, and sucked in a sharp breath. She tried to pull back against the mental force, and then heard Adachi's voice in her head, sounding strained and slightly panicked.

_Little…busy…here, _he thought desperately. _Damnit, where the hell are they all coming from?_

"What?" asked Nanako out loud. "What's wrong?"

"What is it?" asked Yu. "Did you find him?"

_Are you okay? _Asked Nanako. _What is 'coming?' Where are you?_

This time, there was really no response. Nanako bit her lip. "Adachi-san's in trouble," she informed the others. "He's fighting something…somewhere far away from here. I can hear him…"

Yosuke blinked, frowning. "You can hear him?" he asked. "Wait, I don't get it…how can you-?"

"Do you think you get us to where he is?" interrupted Yu.

Nanako closed her eyes again and thought hard. She felt her way through the streets and alleys of the TV world, until she could sense Adachi's presence coming from one direction in particular.

_We're coming! _she thought at him, allowing her persona to disappear back into her soul. _Hang on, okay?_

**Not long after, elsewhere in the TV world…**

Adachi dodged a swipe from an angry cat shadow, and then glanced up as he heard the door burst open behind him. Nanako and Tatsu-ta-Hime hurtled towards him across the room, followed by a more wary and tense Yu.

"Adachi-san!" cried Nanako. "Are you okay? Oh! So many cats…" Slightly stunned by the sheer number of shadows in the room, Nanako stopped and stared around for a moment while two others, who Adachi remembered as Hanamura and Shirogane, shuffled in.

"Back off!" snarled Adachi. "These things are a hell of a lot stronger than they look. They're the real deal."

Nanako, of course, completely ignored him. Instead, she closed her eyes and focused, allowing her persona to reach out to Adachi with both hands. "Healing Wave" she whispered, and almost instantly Adachi felt a soothing sense of calm wash over him as his wounds began to heal and close.

Izanagi-no-Okami was already out and surveying the scene. "Maziodyne," called Yu, and each of the cats was struck by a bolt of fierce lightning. The cats began yowling in pain, and some of them stumbled back to glare balefully at Yu out of yellow eyes. One cat disappeared entirely into a cloud of shadow essence, but the others held on.

"The hell-?" stammered Adachi. "How did you do that? Nothing I try seems to even hurt them a little."

"What have you tried?" asked Yu.

Adachi shrugged. "Who knows? I just let my persona do her thing. I give her free reign, she cuts loose, and shadows explode, right? I mean…that's what usually happens." He shot a glance over at Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto, who was in the process of trying to tear a shadow cat's head off with her teeth. Adachi grimaced. "Piece of shit cats just don't know when to die…"

Yu gave Adachi's persona a disgusted look. "That's not how it works," he insisted. "You can't just let her decide for herself. She's only a part of you…so you have to be the one in control."

"Control?" scoffed Adachi. "Wait, seriously? She's tearing shit apart with her teeth, how much more control do you want?"

"That's not control," countered Yu, over the rising sound of yowling cats. "She may be powerful, but all that power is just creating more chaos. You need to take charge of the situation. You said it yourself; these shadows are dangerous. Random, undisciplined carnage isn't going to be enough."

Adachi's eyes narrowed. He was starting to get tired of all this boring talk. "You really are a self-righteous pain in the ass you know that?," he told Yu. "Guess some things never change. The hell makes you think you've got a right to dictate to me? I'm older than you. I'm better than you, frankly, at lots of stuff. Hey, I committed the entire string of Inaba murders without anybody even batting an eyelash in my direction. What gives you the right to act all high and mighty, huh?"

The yowling had begun to subside, and cats were again creeping forward. "I defeated you in the end," Yu told Adachi quietly. "I defeated you because I know how to be in control. You should listen if you want to get anything out of this 'training' at all….or if you want to survive much longer."

"Tch." Adachi bit his lip. "Nobody asked you to come here and pull that noble act with me. I have it under control, so get the fuck out."

"Adachi-san," murmured Nanako unhappily. "But, you just said that your attacks aren't hurting the cats at all."

Yu just shook his head, looking exasperated and angry. "Forget it, Nanako," he muttered. "There's no point. Just stay behind me until we can-!"

"Nanako-chan!" shouted Shirogane. "Look out!"

Adachi snapped his head around just in time to see one of the five cats that Shirogane and Hanamura had been fighting break away from them and make a lunge for Nanako's unprotected back. It sank its claws into her skin, raking them down from neck to waist and hissing at her. Nanako screamed in a desperate combination of pain and fear.

"Nngh," muttered Adachi, his insides twisting painfully at the sound of the scream. "Nanako-chan…"

"What magic can you use?" bellowed Yu, in a very Dojima-like voice that Adachi had never heard him use before.

"H-huh?" Adachi tore his eyes away from the writhing Nanako, and risked a glance at his persona, who was busy trying to shake off two cats that were attached to her arm, and to rip one of their tails out by the roots. "Uh, fire I can use fire."

Again, Nanako shrieked as another cat made to attack her. "Then use fire!" shouted Yu, as Izanagi-no-Okami started trying to freeze off the two cats that were climbing on Nanako. Tears were beginning to well up in her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest, trying feebly to protect herself from the onslaught.

"Agi," muttered Adachi. Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto didn't respond. "Agi!' he announced again. "Agi!"

Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto looked over at him in surprise.

"Agi!" screamed Adachi. "Fucking agi, now!"

Fire shot out of Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto's fingertips, and the cats narrowed their yellow eyes and took several wary steps back from the flames. They didn't appear damaged in any way, and yet they were apparently more than willing to abandon their prey in order to avoid the threat of fire.

Nanako whimpered, and murmured "Healing Wave." Again, the calm, refreshing outpouring of energy soothed Adachi, as well as the other there fighters, although it seemed to leave Nanako herself alone. She winced, looking disappointed.

Yu stepped forward. "Parvati," he called. "Diarahan." A new persona appeared, bathing Nanako in a healing glow. She sighed in relief and relaxed into her cousin's outstretched arms. "Big Bro…" she murmured, but didn't seem to be able to get the rest of the sentence out, whatever it was going to be.

Adachi watched, feelingly strangely numb, as Yu, Shirogane and Hanamura finished off the rest of the cat shadows with several bursts of very powerful magic from their own personas. Before too long, the room was devoid entirely of any shadows, and Adachi stood in the middle of the apartment, staring around at the mess.

Nanako, he realized, was watching him over the top of one of Yu's enclosing arms. Adachi tried to give her a reassuring grin, but it felt more like a half-assed grimace than anything else.

"We're going back to the Velvet Room," said Yu shortly. Gathering Nanako up into his arms, he carried her out of the room.

"Um…I can walk now," Adachi heard her say as he and others hurried to catch up.

"No," countered Yu firmly. "You can't."

**Chapter 63: Chapter Sixty One: Investigation Support**

**Author's Note: **I sincerely apologize for the long wait. This weekend was absolutely brutal, but hopefully I can get back on schedule now…

Okay, so, real quick: Please remember that this story is based solely on the GAME, and does not take into account any events or changes made in the ANIME. Thank you!

Also, this is an interim chapter, so please be patient with me. I promise to explain much more in the subsequent chapters. Things are beginning to heat up and get complicated, here…and I'm about to complicate them further. You know, like I do.

**Chapter Sixty One: Investigational Support**

Yu half-carried and half-dragged Nanako back through the TV world towards the Velvet Room. Yosuke and Naoto waited outside while he and Nanako went in, to find Margaret and Igor seated in their usual spots, apparently waiting.

"Oh dear," murmured Margaret, raising an eyebrow. She looked a little more awake and less distracted than she had when Yu had first come in. "It looks as though you've met with some trouble."

"How unfortunate," agreed Igor, looking for all the world as though what he'd really wanted to say was, "how fascinating."

Yu ignored them both. He released Nanako and let her sink down against the wall. She was obviously doing her best to put on a brave face, although she was still pale, and winced slightly every time she had to shift or move her left shoulder.

"Does it still hurt?" asked Yu. Nanako just nodded miserably at him. Yu sighed. "It shouldn't. I don't understand. That was a very strong healing spell from one of my strongest priestess personas. There's no reason why you should still be in pain."

"Sorry," whispered Nanako, biting her lip.

Yu blinked. "Sorry? No, you aren't…I mean, you don't have to be sorry. This isn't your fault." _I wonder, _he thought frantically, _if maybe magic affects her persona differently than it does ours. After all, she's got a scanning type of persona, just like Rise does, and I've never tried to heal Rise in battle. There must be a reason that Rise and her persona keep so far out of the line of fire. Maybe personas of that type don't respond to healing the same way, or take damage more quickly and more heavily than our personas do. I'll have to ask her. Nanako wouldn't know, yet…_

"Are you okay?" Nanako was watching Yu's face, looking worried. "There were so many cats…"

Yu gave her a reassuring little squeeze on the shoulder. "I'm fine," he said. "We're all fine."

"And…Adachi-san?" Nanako asked that question a bit more hesitantly, glancing over Yu's shoulder at the Velvet Room door. Yu frowned and followed her gaze, realizing suddenly that he hadn't seen Adachi since they'd left the apartment building in a hurry. Adachi must not have followed them out…or maybe he was wandering around somewhere on his own. _That's not important right now, _he decided. _We'll deal with him later. There's too much going on here._

"Wait here," he told Nanako. "You'll be safe with Margaret and Igor." _Even if Adachi comes back, _he assured himself, _there's still no way that Igor and Margaret would let one guest hurt another. I'm sure that's true. _"I'm going to sort things out with Yosuke and Naoto. I'll come back and get you once we're finished, and we'll go home together. Promise me that you won't leave this spot."

Nanako opened her mouth as though she was going to protest, and Yu raised an eyebrow at her. Sighing, Nanako nodded once. "Okay, Big Bro. Come back soon. And…be safe. Please?"

"I will." Giving her a smile that wasn't entirely genuine, Yu turned around and made his way back out of the room.

He walked right into the middle of what sounded like a heated argument between Yosuke and Naoto.

"So, what the hell was that place?" Yosuke was demanding. "It wasn't here before, that's for sure. I mean, we'd have found it if it had been here ten years ago, right? So?"

Naoto was frowning. "The imprint of Officer Fujioka's mind…" she murmured. "A place that he created, in this world. But, what does it mean?"

"Mean? Isn't it obvious? Fujioka was in here like all the others," insisted Yosuke. "That's the only way you get your own special little home-away-from-home in the TV world. You have to get in here and face yourself. There's no way he made it in on his own, because it's not like Izanami's around anymore to start granting powers left and right, so someone had to have thrown him in, and it sure as hell wasn't one of us. I mean…there's only one person it really could have been, right?"

Yosuke's eyes had narrowed and he was looking frustrated and furious. Naoto, just shook her head. "No, I don't agree," she said. "If there's anything that we have learned today, I believe it is that Adachi-san can't have been involved in this particular incident."

"Wha…seriously?" Yosuke stared. "How do you work that out?"

Naoto shrugged. "It's obvious that he's in no condition to be the mastermind of any crime," she continued. "While the Adachi that we knew ten years ago played the part of the bumbling, incompetent detective, we are well aware that he was secretly a very focused and driven individual. He was capable of complex and long-term games of deceit, which required a certain level of competence and control. This Adachi, the one that we fought alongside today, was barely able to convince his persona to execute a simple command. Perhaps this is due to the fact that he is no longer under the influence of the guiding power of the gods, but whatever the reason, the man is a psychological wreck. This crime required a certain level of covert finesse, of which I believe Adachi-san in his current state to be incapable."

Yosuke didn't seem to have any response to that. Instead, he opened his mouth, closed it, and then turned to look at Yu. "Well?" he demanded. "What do you think?"

_I don't know, _thought Yu. _No, actually, I think a lot of things, and most of them contradict each other. That's not helpful. _Out loud, he said, "I agree with Naoto. It doesn't seem like he's behind this, or else the shadows wouldn't be attacking him. They didn't in Magatsu Inaba, remember?"

Yosuke frowned. "Right. I forgot about that…damn."

"What puzzles me," added Naoto, still staring vaguely off into space as though lost in her own reflections, "is the present nature of the TV world. The death of Fujioka…there was something strange about it. Something different than the deaths we witnessed ten years ago."

She paused, and Yu waited. "Different, how?" he asked, when it looked as though Naoto wasn't going to speak up on her own.

"Well…I'm not quite sure how to express it." Naoto looked uncomfortable. "It felt to me as though…there was something almost merciful about Fujioka's death. The place created by his mind wasn't quite the same as the ones that we created years ago. In our case, we faced our shadows in the midst of our worst fears and darkest secrets. We were forced to confront the things that we wished not to have to overcome. Fujioka, however, appears to have died in a place resembling the one where he last saw his mother, a treasured loved one. It was as though, even in the midst of his death, he was awarded a chance to say goodbye."

Yu and Yosuke were silent for a moment, watching the slightly pained look on Naoto's face. "But…he'd already said goodbye," insisted Yosuke. "I mean, his mom died weeks ago, right?"

"Officers of the law have busy schedules," muttered Naoto quietly. "It is sometimes difficult to arrange our time in such a way that we can spend it with our loved ones. It is…always possible that Fujioka was unable to say goodbye to his mother. Perhaps that was the reason that he died in such a place. Guilt is a strong emotion…and it is strong emotions that create the places we find inside this world, now as well as ten years ago."

Naoto's eyes were unfocused and she was clearly speaking more to herself now than to Yosuke and Yu. "Uh," said Yosuke, "sure, well, that's a theory. Still, doesn't it seem a little farfetched? I mean, we barely know the guy. There could be tons of reasons that his mind created that place. What makes you think…?"

Yu felt the presence before he heard the voice. He wasn't surprised, either, when someone who sounded uncannily like Naoto spoke up from a few feet behind him. _I had a feeling, _he thought. _After all, she's the only one of us here who hasn't faced it, yet. It's just like before…you can't be in the TV world for too long before it catches up with you._

"It likely wasn't his fault," said Naoto's voice. Yu, Yosuke, and Naoto all turned around to find Other Naoto standing there, looking mournfully at the real Naoto, who was now gritting her teeth. "The responsibilities of law enforcement make it more than a little bit difficult to fit in a social schedule. Everyone knows that when they accept the position. There's no reason for him to have felt particularly guilty about it."

"Ah," murmured Naoto, nodding slowly. "Yes. I thought you'd come."

**Meanwhile, at the police station…**

It was getting late, and Dojima had already let Chie off the hook for the day. Even Chief Taiga had headed home early, having promised Dojima with a wry sort of miserable grin on his face that he'd try to get some honest rest that night. Dojima had felt strangely uneasy as he'd watched the chief leaving the building, and had almost found himself calling out, not sure what he should do or suggest, but positive that he couldn't let the guy go home alone to a house full of unhappy, guilty feelings. In the end, though, he'd said nothing. _It's not like it's really my place, _he'd reminded himself. _After all, he's my superior. He'd probably just give me a weird look if I'd said anything._

He walked outside and sat on the bus bench in front of the station, unexpectedly reluctant to go home. _Guess she's not coming today, _he thought. Of course, there was no reason why Margaret should come all the way just to meet him at the station. It wasn't as though they were really dating, after all. Even the night before, he'd explained to her that any involvement with him would probably end up being disappointing. He'd wanted her to leave, and so it only made sense that she wouldn't be by to ask him to join her for dinner.

_But, last night…_he thought, biting his lip. He'd spent most of the day trying not to think about "last night." After all, that had been a mistake, and he was sure that Margaret knew it as well as he did. Still, every time he had a free minute or just needed something to distract him from the mundane paperwork, he found his mind wandering to the way her lips met the sake glass, or the way her hair looked against her bare shoulder and the blanket in the morning. _It was…something out of some kind of weird fantasy, _he told himself. _Women that beautiful aren't supposed to exist in the real world, and…I mean, it was surreal. She was surreal. _Thinking about her felt sort of like trying to remember a dream that had struck him hard the night before, but that had proven to be just the alcohol once he'd woken up the next morning. It was a nostalgic and disappointing sort of feeling that unsettled him and made him smile at the same time.

"Excuse me…um, I'm looking for Detective Dojima?" An unfamiliar female voice interrupted his thoughts. Dojima looked up to find himself staring into the eyes of one of the most unremarkable women he'd ever seen.

Maybe it was only because he'd just been imagining how exquisite Margaret looked with her clothes off, but this new arrival seemed to melt into the background of the parking lot in comparison. She had almost no figure to speak of, a flat chest and tight, unappealing hips, and her mass of black hair somehow managed to be lank, thin, and all over the place at the same time. She was dressed in a button-up shirt and a pair of what looked like men's dress slacks, although the bottoms of her pant legs were caked, inexplicably, with mud.

"Oh." She glanced down, apparently having seen Dojima notice the mud. "Sorry, sir…uh, the car broke down a few miles from here and I had to walk to get a jump. It's…kind of a muddy day. It rained a little this morning…uh, but you know that. Are…are you Detective Dojima?"

"Yeah." Dojima nodded. "That's me. Can I help you?"

Instantly, the woman stood up straighter. "Yes, sir! I'm from the Tokyo police department…special investigational support. Chief Taiga probably told you about me. I'm here with my partner, only…we took separate vehicles, and I think he got lost in town. I'm sure he'll be here soon, um…maybe." She looked momentarily worried, then sighed. "Anyway, it's nice to meet you, sir."

_Special investigational support, huh? _Dojima frowned. _This feels familiar…just one more thing that takes me too far back. _"No," he informed the woman. "The chief didn't mention it. Sorry."

Her face instantly fell. "No? Oh…yeah, I was afraid that might have happened. Well, um, I don't know the details, really, but I think the higher-ups wanted to make sure that the whole area's working together on this one. Inaba's a pretty small force, and this is a pretty big case, so…" She shrugged. "This probably isn't what you were hoping would happen today, I know. I'm just following orders, though. We'll do our best not to get too much in the way."

She extended a hand, and after a moment's hesitation, Dojima took it. It was a little bit dirty, probably due to the trek through the Inaba back roads, and he decided not to say anything about it. "We'll figure it out," he assured her, feeling that he ought to at least try to be welcoming in the chief's absence. "Doesn't sound like you had much more choice in the matter than we did. What's your name?"

. "I'm Cho Yanase," she told him. "Um, I mean, Detective Yanase, sir…and if you don't mind my saying so, I've heard a lot about you. You're…sort of a legend. I'm really looking forward to working with the famous Detective Dojima." She gave him an excited little unguarded smile that made her look suddenly a lot younger than she probably was, and Dojima found himself smiling back.

**Author's End Note: **SURPRISE!

**Chapter 64: Chapter Sixty Two: Work to Do**

**Author's Note: **I've been updating very, very slowly lately. Many apologies, please bear with me while I sort out my new and complicated schedule. I really appreciate your patience and the kindness you've been showing in your reviews. I mean it!

Oh, and by the way, just to be clear; Yes, I am using Cho Yanase in this story, but I suppose she's a sort of AU version of Cho. This story is separate from and does not take into account the events of "Disenchanted," or any of the other Cho stories, and so I have taken the liberty of actually taking the other Cho stories down for the moment. It'll be more fun if you look at this as a fresh take on the Cho Yanase character, without getting bogged down in the old stuff!

**Chapter Sixty Two: Work to Do**

"Is that it, then?" inquired the shadow of Other Naoto scornfully. "Is that all the reaction I'm going to receive from you? Then again, I suppose it is logical that you would be expecting me. Still, such a needless display of bravado…even your own comrades couldn't possibly be convinced to believe that you aren't the least bit frightened. After all, you're me, and so you must know what's coming. I would expect no less from a woman of my deductive skill."

"What's she talking about?" asked Yosuke. "What's coming? Wait, do you know what it's gonna turn into?"

Naoto nodded once. "Of course," she murmured. "It's an obvious matter. So far, all the other shadows we've witnessed in this new incarnation of the TV world have turned into the specters of our pasts. In some cases, it was a friend or loved one, long dead. In others, it was someone we felt we'd lost, or a part of a personality with which we were no longer in touch. After witnessing and learning of so many other incidents, it's not difficult to determine the form that my shadow is most likely to take."

Yu could see that even though Naoto was speaking quite calmly, a muscle in her face had begun to twitch, and there was a whiteness around her knuckles as she clutched hard at the wrist of her other hand. "Who?" he asked simply.

It took an extra second for Naoto to respond to that. "Grandfather," she murmured eventually.

"Wait…what?" Yosuke shot a glance at Yu, obviously startled. "Hold on, when did he die? You never said anything about that! Holy crap, Naoto…"

Naoto shrugged. "It was a quiet, peaceful death. He was a very elderly man. There was nothing to be done about it, and I would only have burdened you unnecessarily if I'd bothered you with the information. It seemed counterintuitive, at the time."

"But-!" began Yosuke. Then he sighed, frustrated, and shut his mouth again. Yu had some idea of how he must be feeling. _I can't really say that I'm shocked, _he thought. _She's always been like this._

The shadow of Other Naoto pursed her lips unhappily. "You see?" she asked Naoto. "This is why these things happen. It's because you never take time to consider the human element of any equation. You're so caught up in your work that you forgot to think about the people that are a part of your life. Every good detective knows that people matter just as much as facts and problems."

"People," retorted Naoto quietly, "create the problems in the first place."

"Correct, of course!" Other Naoto looked exasperated. "And so how can you expect to solve problems without people? How can you expect to continue to live your life as though you exist in a vacuum, and as though contact with the human element is irrelevant to your work? It's because of that erroneous and misguided attitude that you find yourself in this undesirable situation! You have no one but yourself to blame for this, and you're well aware of that."

"I…" For a moment, Naoto looked flustered. "Well, yes, I…I have never denied that I'm to blame for the predicament. It was my error and my thoughtlessness that…but you must understand that I had no choice. It was my responsibility to be elsewhere."

"You're going to die alone," countered Other Naoto. "Is that what you want? Alone, and surrounded by papers and documents, just like he did? A noble death for a great detective, but by its very nature, necessarily unsung. You do understand that, do you not?"

Yosuke gave Yu a nudge in the ribs. "What the hell is going on here?" he asked. "What's she talking about? What predicament? There's no way her shadow's accusing her of killing Fujioka, right?"

Yu had his eyes on Other Naoto, and was watching as the shadow gradually mutated and changed, getting unexpectedly smaller and shorter by the minute. Before long, just as Naoto had predicted, the shadow had taken on the form of Naoto's grandfather, a man that Yu had only seen in photographs, but who bore a startling resemblance to Naoto herself. There was something about the jaw line and the way he held his shoulders that spoke of the hard-boiled detective that Naoto had always so longed to become.

"Naoto-chan," rasped her grandfather, in a voice that Yu was sure had once been commanding, but was now cracked with age. "You so rarely visit…are you truly so busy that you are unable to take even a day or two to visit your ailing guardian? I've longed to see you…and to talk with you. It's lonely here at this time of day, now that I can't use my legs anymore and no one wishes to consult me. The place is like a prison cell…"

"No." Naoto shook her head firmly. "No, that's not right. Grandfather would never have said something like that. He was proud of my work as a detective, and proud of how I carried on in the Shirogane family name. He commended my efforts and praised my diligence. He would never have uttered such a thing."

_But she doesn't really think that, _realized Yu. _Or maybe part of her does, but…she has to have doubts. She has to wonder if maybe he was lonely at the end, or else her shadow wouldn't be saying things like this. Everything they say comes out of our minds; they don't make any of it up. This must be bothering her a lot…maybe she's been carrying it around since his death. I don't know how long it's been, but it must be painful._

"You weren't they when he died?" asked Yu out loud.

"It couldn't be helped," whispered Naoto, beginning to look cornered and extremely uncomfortable. "I was on a case…it was an important case. Grandfather would never have wanted me to give up on the opportunity to make an arrest in order to come to his bedside. It…it would have shamed him. It would have embarrassed him, I only…" Sweat was beginning to collect on her forehead, and she shot a desperate look between Yu and Yosuke, as though begging them to back her up against herself.

"Damn," muttered Yosuke. "Um, I don't know, Naoto, that's…that's pretty cold."

Naoto sucked in a sharp breath. "How could I have known it would be the end?" she asked herself, her shadow, and the room at large. "I…I couldn't have known…"

Again, the shadow was changing, growing larger this time instead of shrinking. The features of Naoto's grandfather darkened and disappeared into the blank, black face of a shadow, who loomed over them, clad in what appeared to be Buddhist robes and wielding a terrible looking golden sword above its head.

"Oh, crap," shouted Yosuke. "Hey, I just realized…there are only three of us! That's no good!"

"I didn't know," insisted Naoto, almost begging. "I…" She shook her head at the shadow, as if trying to elicit some response. The shadow only regarded her coldly without speaking.

Yosuke sighed. "Make that two of us," he said. "This…could be bad. Whoa, hey, look out!"

He ducked sharply to the left as the shadow brought it's sword down, slicing through the space that he'd occupied only moments before. "Izanagi-no-Okami," called Yu, leveling a Ziodyne attack at the shadow, temporarily distracting and stalling it. Yosuke took the opportunity to summon Bishamonten, who faced the shadow with a strangely vengeful light in its eyes.

"Uh, Garudyne," attempted Yosuke, and Bishamonten leveled a wind attack at the shadow, which hit, but did disappointingly little damage.

"If only Rise were here," murmured Yu unhappily. "Without her, Teddie, or even Nanako, we're blind in this fight. There's no way to determine what will be the most effective without trial and error."

As if in response to his words, the shadow turned its head towards Yu, and its sword suddenly erupted into flames, which licked all along the blade and illuminated the shadow's face in eerily glowing firelight.

"Uh…hey, I've got an idea," muttered Yosuke.

_Yeah, _thought Yu. _I think I have one, too…at least, I do if it really has a fire affinity. Bufudy-!"_

He didn't even have time to finish thinking the command, let alone to say it. The shadow as on him on an instant, and he had to defend himself, giving up for the moment on any kind of attack.

**Meanwhile, in the Velvet Room…**

Nanako was sitting on the floor with her eyes closed when she heard the Velvet Room door open. She glanced up to see Adachi sidling in. "Adachi-san!" she cried, getting to her feet and then wincing and sitting back down again as a wave of dizziness overcame her. "Where did you go? I was worried about you…are you hurt?"

Adachi shrugged. "I'm fine," he mumbled. "Injured pride, nothing else." For all of that, Nanako didn't think he looked like he was doing well. He also didn't seem to be willing to look her in the eye, something that seemed to be becoming a theme lately with the residents of the Velvet Room. "Um…how are you? Holding up okay?" he asked.

Nanako nodded. "I'm going to be better soon," she assured him. "Big Bro used a strong healing spell, so…"

Adachi narrowed his eyes. "Uh…no offense, but it doesn't look like it did you a ton of good," he noted. "Then again, I guess it could be worse. You're not dead, so…" He sounded uncharacteristically relieved. "That's good. Yeah…that's really good."

On an impulse, Nanako forced herself to get up and to walk over to him. She peered up into his face, and again he avoided her eyes. "I'm going to be fine," she reiterated. "See? It's okay. It's…oh, um..." The wooziness suddenly overcame her in a wave, and she felt herself wobbling backward. As the world started spinning far too fast, Adachi sucked in a breath and grabbed her by the shoulders, half-easing and half-forcing her back down against the wall.

"What the hell," he muttered. "Who are you trying to impress, exactly? Just sit down and stay put, would you? You look like a ghost and you're still bleeding." He examined the wound on Nanako's back for a moment, and she watched as his face, too, suddenly went very pale. "Crap," he muttered, "that's a lot of blood…I've never been, uh, that good with blood. Nngh…"

He slumped down next to her on the floor. For a moment, neither of them said anything. Nanako steadied herself against Adachi's nearest shoulder. Everything felt foggy and dense.

"I can't be bleeding," she told him, and the words came out sounding more peevish and childish than she'd intended them to. "I have to study for exams when I get home."

Adachi raised an eyebrow at her. "Wha…seriously, that's what you're worried about, right now? Can't you study tomorrow, or something?"

"That's what I've been doing for weeks," mumbled Nanako. "I've been saying I'll study tomorrow, and tomorrow, but…tomorrow's almost over, and the exams are coming, and I've never failed an exam before. Dad will be so disappointed. He'll…be very angry."

"Yeah." Adachi sighed. "Yeah, I can see that. Dojima-san's probably not too forgiving about bad grades, right? Still, I mean, under the circumstances, it's not like you…"

Nanako lost track of what he was saying, as another wave of dizziness hit her, and she felt the world begin to grow dark. "Oh," she murmured. "I'm so sleepy…"

Adachi suddenly sat up straight. "What? No, no way. You can't go to sleep. That's, uh, a bad idea. Definitely. Hey, come on, snap out of it!"

Nanako couldn't find anything else to say. She wanted to close her eyes so badly it was torture just trying to keep herself awake.

"Shit, shit," muttered Adachi to himself. "Uh, hang on…can't remember what the hell you even learn in second year. Oh, hey, what's the word for 'coward' in English? I mean, there's a bird, right? What's the bird they call a coward in English?"

It took Nanako moment to figure out what he was even talking about. "A chicken," she mumbled. "Why are you asking me?"

"Because we're studying for your damn exams, that's why," snarled Adachi, shaking her by the shoulders and unsettling her back into some level of consciousness. "That's what you're worried about, right? So, stay the fuck awake. We've got work to do."

**Chapter 65: Chapter Sixty Three: Predictions**

**Author's Note: **Again, terribly sorry about the long updating gap. I'm…very tired, lately. Please continue to bear with me. I may have some exciting new announcements very soon, and perhaps even words about a new project!

I will try to get another chapter out either tonight or tomorrow night. I promise to do my best.

**Chapter Sixty Three: Predictions**

Dojima drove home by way of the shopping district. He tried to pretend that he wasn't keeping his eyes open for Margaret, but ended up stopping in the Junes parking lot. _I'll just see if they've got anything on sale for dinner, _he told himself, fully aware all the while that the fridge at home was stocked with things he hadn't been home in time to eat for days.

Margaret, of course, was not at Junes. She wasn't anywhere, as far as he could tell. "Huh," he muttered to himself, again trying and failing to stave off the pang of disappointment. "Oh, well…figures."

He was back on track and heading home again in the car when he found himself driving right past the newly-built house where Chief Taiga lived. He slowed down and watched as his car pulled past, frowning to himself and remembering the hollow look in the chief's eyes when he'd told Dojima about the visions of Fujioka he'd been seeing in his dreams.

_Maybe I should go check up on him, _he thought. _Just to make sure he's not beating himself up too bad. After all, he's pretty much still a kid, and…this is hard stuff. More than he should have to be dealing with right now. Maybe…_

In the end, though, he couldn't think of a good reason to barge in on someone else's home, especially uninvited. He wouldn't have an excuse, and the chief would probably just give him a strange look and politely turn him away. With a sigh, Dojima returned his attention to the road.

**Meanwhile, inside the TV world…**

"I feel like I shouldn't be shocked, or anything, but nothing's working!" shouted Yosuke, as Bishamonten made another lunge with its outstretched sword for the throat of Naoto's new shadow. "I mean, it just dodges everything we're throwing! I don't know what kind of damage we could do if we could hit it, but just hitting it is hard enough!"

He and Yu had been trying back and forth for several minutes just to successfully wound the shadow with a single attack, but every time either of their personas made an attempt, Naoto's shadow simply stepped out of the way.

_They're getting harder and harder, _thought Yu unhappily, _and with only two of us, there may not be too much we can do. I hate to say it, but running away might be our best option, if we can even get out of here in time. We'll have to do something about Naoto…_

Naoto was still standing stock-still staring up into the face of the shadow that had looked not too long ago like her recently lost grandfather.

_We could really use her right now. _Yu was getting frustrated. _If any of us could come up with a solution to this one, it's probably Naoto. She'd be able to see a pattern, or recognize a difference in the shadow's behavior. She's always been good at that sort of thing. It's probably her detective skills at work._

Desperately, he did the best he could to try to think the way that Naoto would. He watched the way the shadow slashed at Yosuke with its flaming weapon, and the way it stepped agilely to the side to avoid Bishamonten's counter attack.

"Hey!" shouted Yosuke. "Why are you just standing there? Help me out, here, man! I can't do this solo, this guy's way too strong!"

"Ziodyne," muttered Yu, and Izanagi-no-Okami rejoined the fight. From behind his persona, Yu continued to frantically reflect. _How did we beat the last few shadows? _he wondered. _They were strong too, and some of them seemed unbeatable. Kanji's shadow pretty much reflected almost anything we threw at it, and that was bad, too. What did we use on it…ice?_

Yu, however, had already tried using ice on Naoto's shadow, to no effect. Clenching his fists, he bit his lip, and watched Yosuke making yet another fruitless attempt at a wind attack. Yosuke was beginning to run down, his face sweating and turning red as all the fighting he'd been doing started to catch up to him.

_It's no use, _thought Yu. _I'm good at reading people, but I'm no detective. Situations like this…._

Then, suddenly, it hit him. "Detective," he mumbled, his mind racing. "That's it…she's a detective…and so was he."

"What?" asked Yosuke. "Who's a what? Hey, are you going to help me or not?"

"Yeah." Yu straightened up. "Yosuke, Naoto's shadow is a detective. It's reading us!"

Yosuke shook his head. "What? No, that makes no sense. It's not a scanner. If it could scan us, I think we would have seen it do that already."

"I didn't say it was scanning us," insisted Yu, ducking to avoid the swing of the shadow's sword. "I said it was reading us. It's predicting what we're going to do…watching us to see what our patterns are, and how we move. It's making deductions about us based on what it sees us do, just like a detective in the real world. Get it?"

Yosuke did appear to get it. He grimaced. "Well…what the heck are we supposed to do with that?" he demanded. "If it's 'reading us' so well, then how are we supposed to beat it?"

_We're going to have to trick it, _decided Yu. "Yosuke!" he called. "On my count of three, I want you to attack the shadow, okay?"

Yosuke blinked. "Uh…okay."

"One…" counted Yu. "two..three!"

Dutifully, Yosuke closed in on the shadow, and again, the shadow dodged away.

"Okay!" called Yu. "My turn. One…two…three!" Yu tried to zap the shadow with a lightning attack, but again, the shadow moved too fast.

"Now," continued Yu, "you again. One…two…three!"

They went on like that for several minutes, alternating between Yosuke and Yu, neither of them successfully hitting the shadow. After Yosuke and Yu had each tried to attack several times, Yu managed to catch Yosuke's eye. They watched each other for a moment, and Yu very gently shook his head. Yosuke's eyes widened, but it looked as though he understood.

_Okay, _thought Yu. _It's Yosuke's turn to attack. So, that means…_

"One," he counted. "Two…three!"

Just as he'd expected it to, the shadow turned its head to stare at Yosuke as soon as Yu finished counting to three. As quickly as he could, Yu dashed into the opening, slashing t the shadow with this weapon while it was expecting the attack to come from another quarter. For the very first time, he connected with the shadow's side, and the shadow cringed and shrieked in pain.

_Patterns, _he thought. _We need to confuse it, and to make it think that it understands the way we work. We have to do things that don't make sense based on our previous actions, and that don't seem logical given the situation._

For once, the rest of the battle did not go quickly. It took Yu and Yosuke several tries to determine what would work and what wouldn't. Yu attacked a few times using Garudyne, an attack that made little sense considering it was one of the only magic attacks that Bishamonten could successfully perform. Yu usually restricted himself to using magic that the others weren't able to use, and that confused the shadow at least enough to wound it slightly before it was on its guard again. They tried guarding and blocking when it made more sense to attack, and attacking when it made more sense to guard or block. That helped them get a couple more hits on the shadow, who was starting to look more and more frustrated with the way the tide was turning.

"I'm pretty sure it's losing momentum," said Yu triumphantly, watching as the shadow began to sag. "We've almost got it, just one or two more hits!"

Yosuke frowned. "Yeah, but…hey, honestly, I'm running out of ideas. What else haven't we tried? This thinking backwards stuff is starting to make my head hurt."

_Me too, _agreed Yu silently. _Still, we're almost there…_

Then, it occurred to him. There was one thing that no one would ever expect him to do, not in a million years, and no doubt the shadow would make the same assumptions. It was risky, almost too risky, but it would be almost sure to end the fight before things got any more out of hand. Yu looked over at Yosuke, who didn't look as though he had too much more fight in him before he collapsed.

_I need to end this, _he decided. _You have to trust me, Yosuke…I need you to trust me this time. And I need to be able to trust you._

"Yosuke," he said. "Stand in front of the shadow."

"Uh…" Yosuke glanced over at Yu. "You sure?"

"I'm sure," agreed Yu. "Stand in front of the shadow, and don't move except to block its attacks, okay? Just stand there, no matter what happens."

Yosuke opened his mouth as if to protest, and then saw the look on Yu's face, nodded once, and turned his back. "Okay, partner. Whatever you say."

Yosuke stepped in between Yu and the shadow, and the shadow busily began leveling attacks at Yosuke, who occupied himself with blocking and parrying them just as Yu had requested.

_There's no way it'll see this one coming, _he thought. _After all, it'd never expect me to try and attack it while Yosuke's in the line of fire._ Gazing at Yosuke, Yu breathed a short prayer in the back of his mind, willing the gods to be on his side for just this once. _I only hope that Yosuke figures it out fast enough…_

"Izanagi-no-Okami!" he called. "Ziodyne!"

The next few seconds happened very quickly. The shadow, who had never expected an attack to come in from behind the person it was currently engaged with, glanced up just in time to watch the bolt of lightning crackling forward towards it. Yosuke's eyes widened in shock, and then he ducked and rolled out of the way, just in time to dodge the bolt and land somewhere to the left of where Yu was standing.

"What the hell, man?" demanded Yosuke, his face turning red as the shadow behind him took the hit and erupted into a red and black explosion of essence. "You could have hit me!"

Yu, trying not to look as relieved as he felt, clasped Yosuke's shoulder. "Hey, I trust you," he said. "I knew you'd figure it out and get out of the way. We're a team, even if for a second there we had to act like we weren't."

Yosuke didn't seem to be sure how to respond to that. Yu wasn't entirely surprised. _If he hadn't moved fast enough, _he thought, _then I would have been the one who'd betrayed the trust. That…wasn't the most fair thing I've ever done._

"I'm…sorry," he began, shaking his head. "Yosuke, I shouldn't have-!"

But Yosuke wasn't listening. Instead he'd turned to watch Naoto, who was now bending over the shadow which had reverted to the form of her dead grandfather.

"Nao-chan," muttered her grandfather. "I…"

Tears had begun welling up in Naoto's eyes, something that Yu wasn't used to at all. "I'm so sorry, Grandfather," she whispered, her hands clasping and unclasping in front of her. "I…I deserted you in the time when you needed me the most. I thought…our family name…"

Slowly, Naoto's grandfather shook his head, and Naoto stopped speaking. "No," she said, sighing. "No, it's not that. I was…I was frightened. I was afraid of seeing you looking weak, and…and I was afraid of you seeing me that way. You've always been so strong. I'm afraid that I've never been very good at handling weakness, even in myself. I didn't know what you would expect from me, and so I…just decided, for myself that you would expect for me to carry on. It is..not an unreasonable assumption. Perhaps it is what you expected, after all, even if it is not entirely what either of us wanted. It is too late, now, I fear, to explain my mistake…my weakness."

Naoto's grandfather didn't say anything. Instead, he rested one frail hand on Naoto's shoulder, and looked into her eyes for just a moment. As they gazed at one another, Naoto's persona emerged from inside her, and both shadow and persona dissolved into pools of shimmering light.

"Goodbye," whispered Naoto. She was still crying, but something about her posture had relaxed. "Goodbye, Grandfather. I...I will carry on, for you. I always have…"

"Hey." Yosuke took a step forward towards Naoto, and she turned to smile hesitantly at him.

_The strength of heart required to let go of the past has been made manifest, intoned the bodiless voice._

_Naoto's persona re-emerged from the flowing light, tall, slim, and strong-looking with very dark skin that looked almost as though it had been singed by fire. It had its arms crossed over its chest, and deep red and yellow robes covered it's body, as it met Naoto's gaze with a calm, cool expression of its own._

_Naoto has faced and forgiven the past _continued the voice. _She has obtained the façade used to face the unforeseeable future; the persona Fudo-myoo._

_"A mercy," whispered Naoto. "Yes…it does seem so."_

_Yu raised an eyebrow at her, and she shook her head._

_"Forgive me," she said. "To clarify…when we spoke earlier of the nature of Fujioka's shadow realm, I mentioned that it felt as though the new nature of the TV world is almost merciful…as though it is intentionally providing us with second opportunities for healing. This recent encounter only serves to promote that idea. And yet…"_

_She trailed off, frowning, and Yu nodded. He wasn't entirely sure either that the situation they were currently facing should or could be looked on as benevolent. That somehow didn't feel quite right._

**Meanwhile, in the Velvet Room…**

"What's the capital of, uh…Russia?" asked Adachi.

Nanako, nestled up against his shoulder, frowned. "I don't know," she admitted. "And that's not going to be on my test."

"What do you want from me?" Adachi sighed. "It's not like I've got your damn study guide, or anything. Anyway, how's it feel? Still hurt?"

Surprised, Nanako reached over her shoulder and tried to feel the wound on her back. "It didn't until you said something about it," she told him. "Now it hurts a little, though…"

"Nice." Adachi looked relieved. "Yeah, that's good. Guess taking your mind off it helped, or something. Hey, they say that if you get hurt in the head, you should shoot yourself in the foot to distract yourself from the head pain, right? So, maybe studying was so painful that it made your back feel better."

Nanako frowned. "Who says that?" she asked. "That's…that's ridiculous."

At that moment, the Velvet Room door swung open, and Yu appeared with Yosuke and Naoto. Nanako jumped up to meet him, even though it made her back feel a bit worse, but was startled by the exhausted looks on all three of their faces.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Are you okay? What happened?"

Naoto and Yosuke exchanged a look. "We're fine, Nanako-chan," said Naoto quietly. "And how are you feeling? Better?"

Nanako nodded. "Mmhmm. Adachi-san stayed with me until I stopped feeling so sick…but I'm still sleepy. Can we go back, now?"

For just a moment, Nanako watched as Yu glanced over at Adachi. He raised an eyebrow, and Adachi just nodded, once. Yu frowned, then nodded back, and the corner of Adachi's mouth turned up ever so slightly in a rueful kind of smile.

"Yes, of course," said Yu, taking Nanako by the arm. "We should definitely go back. Let's take a look at that wound of yours…"

**Chapter 66: Chapter Sixty Four: Handshake**

**Author's Note: **Did I really only get one chapter out, this week? That…that will never do…

Well, we have a couple of character development chapters before we get back to the crazy action stuff anyway. There seem to be an alarming number of original characters in this chapter. All of the ones in this story, actually. Hmm…coincidence. Next chapter I promise to focus significantly more on the canon characters.

**Chapter Sixty Four: Handshake**

The next morning, Dojima found himself struggling to get out of bed. He'd spent the whole night guiltily dreaming of Margaret, but, guilt or not, at least he'd finally _slept._ His body had days, maybe weeks of sleep to catch up on, and it wasn't keen on leaving the warm safety of the covers. He forced himself into the shower anyway.

He and Chie left for work together, and arrived at the station to find Naoto and Takahashi watching warily while Detective Yanase rushed around setting up the desk that she'd been assigned. A larger, older man with thinning hair and a bit of a beer gut was standing by, watching while Yanase pulled various things, including two battered coffee mugs, out of an oversized duffel bag.

"Oh, hey," he said, turning and striding purposefully over to Dojima and the others as soon as he saw them walk in. "You must be the famous Ryotaro Dojima. I've seen your face in the paper."

For someone reason, Naoto seemed to find that amusing. "You see?" she asked. Dojima decided to ignore her.

"Yeah," he said, "that's me. Are you Detective Yanase's partner?"

The big man nodded and extended a friendly hand. "Yup. Juro Togoshi, Tokyo police. It's nice to meet you. I hope you're not as pissed off about this as you should be. I mean…hey, the way I hear it, you guys know what you're doing out here. Figure you probably have things under control already. Nobody likes having an investigation swept right out from under 'em. Still…"He shrugged, and spread his hands out in a gesture of defeat. "It is what it is. We'll try not to step on your toes too much. Sound good?"

Dojima smiled. "Sounds good," he muttered. "But, speak up if you need anything. Frankly, I'm not against the help. We could use it, and I don't care who knows." Something about Togoshi's manner appealed to him. Togoshi reminded Dojima of some of the detectives he'd known in his younger days; some of the detectives that he'd been privileged enough o call 'senpai' when he was a rookie. There was a sort of old-school confidence about the way Togoshi carried himself that made Dojima feel unexpectedly comfortable with the other man.

"Juro," said Yanase, walking over. "I can't find any pens. Or writing utensils of any kind, actually. Did you forget to-? Oh, hello." She'd suddenly realized that she'd interrupted a conversation, and gave Dojima a quick, pleasant smile. "Dojima-san, and…are these your partners?"

"Um, Chie Satonaka," said Chie, nodding. "'m…kinda new, here."

"And I am Naoto Shirogane," murmured Naoto. "I sincerely hope that our combined efforts will serve to strengthen this investigation, detective."

_She knows how it feels, _thought Dojima, glancing at Naoto, _to be brought in right smack in the middle of an open case. Makes sense that she'd be open to the idea, or would at least try to make them feel a little more welcome. _Still, there was something about Naoto's smile that was slightly off, and Dojima watched as she shot an unreadable look at Chie. _What's that all about, though?_

"Oh…Shirogane?" Yanase's eyes widened. "I've…well, everyone's heard of you. I didn't realize that you lived in Inaba. That's…wow, no pressure." She laughed a bit nervously, and then composed herself again. "Sorry, I'm Cho Yanase. I'm looking forward to working with you all."

Yanase also extended a hand, and Chie reached out to shake it. Dojima grinned as he watched Chie's eyes widen as soon as she felt Yanase's grip. _She's got a good, firm handshake, _thought Dojima, remembering their brief encounter the day before. _The kind of handshake you can trust. _For some reason, he found himself looking over at Togoshi, who seemed to be watching the exchange with a kind of benevolent approval.

Having introduced herself, Yanase turned back to Togoshi. "The pens, Juro?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Togoshi shrugged. "Seriously? Uh…dunno, maybe I left them on my dresser? Anyway, who cares? There has to be a store around here somewhere, right?"

Yanase frowned. "I'm…not too sure about that," she muttered. "All I saw on the way over here was that big department store, and a place that…may have been an antique shop." She frowned.

"The department store, then." Togoshi nodded. "I mean, what kind of place doesn't even sell pens and pencils? There's a school up the road, isn't there?"

With a little sigh, Yanase turned and gave Naoto a tired smile. "If it's not too much trouble," she asked, "may I borrow a pencil, please?"

While Naoto helped Yanase find a writing implement, Dojima took a quick look around the station. Chief Taiga didn't seem to be in yet, and Dojima didn't like that at all. He couldn't put his finger on exactly what he was worried about, but the chief had definitely been looking the worse for wear the day before.

"Dojima-san?" Chie was frowning at him. "Are you okay? You look, uh…you look kind of upset."

Dojima shook his head. "Forget it, it's nothing." He sighed. "Worrying about nothing, that's all."

Chie didn't look too convinced. "I don't think it's nothing if you're worried about it," she told him. "Not that I know you too well yet, or anything, but you're not a really panicky person."

_Funny that you should be the one to say that, _thought Dojima. After all, Chie, Yu, and all of their friends had seen him panic and get more upset than almost anyone else in his life. They'd been there in the moments after Nanako's kidnapping, and then been in the hospital when she'd almost died.

"I think the chief's taking Fujioka's passing pretty hard," he muttered. "He looks terrible, like it's chewing him up. I know how that feels."

"Oh…yeah," agreed Chie. "Yeah, he does look kind of…sad, these days, right."

"Says he's having nightmares about that poor kid's face, too," continued Dojima. "Seeing him staring out of the TV and crap when he starts to fall asleep. It's really weighing on his mind."

Chie gasped. "W-wait," she stammered. "Did you say…something about the TV?"

"Uh…yeah." Dojima stared at her. "Why?"

"Oh my god." Chie was the one looking panicked now. "But we checked that! I'm sure we did. Um…sorry, excuse me. I'll be right back." With that, Chie rushed over to Naoto and began whispering urgently at her. After a few moments, Naoto also looked alarmed. They both grabbed their cell phones and hurried away from the desk, dialing frantically. Takahashi looked up from his typing, shrugged, and then went back to his work.

"What the…?" mumbled Dojima, startled.

"Excitable team you've got there," commented Togoshi, as Yanase triumphantly brandished a pencil, two pens, and a crayon at him. "You just get a hot tip, or something?"

Dojima frowned at Chie and Naoto's retreating backs. "Honestly," he admitted. "I have no idea…"

**Meanwhile, at the Junes food court…**

Nanako was feeling a little bit better. Her back was still aching a bit, but Yu and his persona had spent some time the night before repeatedly dousing her with healing spells until the wounds had almost fully closed, and Nanako was at least able to get up and move around again without being too bothered by the twinges of pain.

They'd all agreed that after the debacle in the shadow world the day before, it would be a good idea to take a break today. Nanako felt badly about not going into see Adachi, and she genuinely worried that he'd be lonely without her, but even she had to admit to herself that taking a day off would be something of a relief. Instead of heading to the Velvet Room that afternoon, therefore, she'd hurried over to the Junes food court, and was now sitting at one of the tables and pouring over the some of the notes that she desperately wished she'd taken the time to study a little bit sooner. Nothing was coming back to her as easily as she'd hoped, and there were some pages of her study guides that she couldn't remember having ever learned in the first place.

"Not good," she murmured miserably to herself. "Uh oh…this is going to be worse than I thought."

"Excuse me…Nanako, wasn't it?" A quiet woman's voice cut through Nanako's frustration, and she looked up to see Suzume, the woman who Yu and Yosuke had invited to their party a few nights ago. "I'm sorry, you look busy. Am I bothering you?"

Nanako caught herself just before answering, "Well, yes." Instead, she shook her head, gave Suzume her most pleasantly welcoming smile, and pushed over a chair for her. _If she's one of Big Bro's friends, I need to be polite, _she reminded herself. _Besides, I think Yosuke has a crush on her, and it would be bad if I made things harder for him._

Honestly, Nanako wasn't interested in talking to Suzume. Nanako had been startled and slightly embarrassed when Suzume had disagreed with her so bluntly that night at the party. She knew, of course, that a difference of opinion was nothing to be upset about, and yet she couldn't help but be offended by it. After all, it had been Nanako's own father that they'd been speculating about. _She didn't have any right to say those things, _thought Nanako unhappily. _She's never met Dad before. She doesn't know how hard it's been on him, being alone all these years, with just me. She doesn't understand…_

"I wanted to tell you," began Suzume, "that I'm sorry about what happened the other night. It was very kind of your brother to invite me into your home, and I…think I may have stepped over the line with the things that I said. I hope you aren't angry with me, Nanako. I'm…well, I'm not always very good at meeting new people or talking to people at parties. Sometimes I make…mistakes." She smiled, but it was sort of a sickly, uncertain half-smile. "I've had some bad things happen recently, and sometimes it makes me sad. I wish I could look at things the way you do. I wish that I was a nice enough person to do that."

There seemed to be no obvious response to a blatant confession like that. "I'm not angry," Nanako managed to say. "I understand. Sometimes we have bad days. I'm sorry that bad things have happened. I hope things are better for you, soon."

"Do you?" Suzume looked a little relieved. "That's nice. Thank you. You're very sweet. It was so nice of your brother and his friends to include me. I don't have a lot of friends of my own, and I…" Suzume paused for a minute, apparently considering what to say next. "I'd like to have friends," she admitted eventually. "I'd like it if we could be friends. Maybe that's a strange thing to say, but…"

Suzume looked so genuinely uncomfortable that Nanako's heart melted a bit. She knew what it was like to feel strange and awkward in new situations. Yu and his friends were all so incredibly close that even she'd experienced a few pangs of loneliness when she'd realized that she could never be fully and completely welcomed into that circle.

"That's all I wanted to say." Suzume nodded. "I just didn't want you to be hurt by what I said before. I should go back to the TV station, though. My break will be over, soon. Thank you for listening."

She turned around to leave, and Nanako stood up, frowning.

"Suzume-san," she called. "Wait!"

Suzume paused, and Nanako took a few steps to catch up with her. "Um, we can be friends," she said. "Actually, I think my brother and Yosuke would both like it if you came over again some time. So, uh, maybe we can start over? You know, like we didn't argue at that party, or anything."

Nanako knew that she was phrasing things badly, but Suzume didn't seem to mind. In fact, Suzume smiled a real, genuine smile that reminded Nanako of the way she'd looked when they'd first introduced her to everyone the other night. _She's lonely, _thought Nanako. _She just wants to be included. I can help with that. Yosuke would be so pleased, I think, if he knew how much she wanted to be a part of this group._

"Thank you so much." Suzume reached out and clasped Nanako's hand in her own. It was a weak, frail sort of grip, as though Suzume was unwilling to exert any real direct pressure. "I appreciate it so much."

"I'll see you again, okay?" asked Nanako.

Suzume nodded. "Yes…of course. Goodbye, Nanako." She smiled again, and then disappeared into the food court crowd.

**Chapter 67: Chapter Sixty Five: Anticlimax**

**Author's Note: **All right, my goal is to get four chapters published by Sunday. Let's see how reasonable a goal that is for this week…

**Chapter Sixty Five: Anticlimax**

Yu was standing in the TV World, down in Magatsu Inaba, watching from behind some dirty caution tape while Adachi prepared to summon his persona.

"Hey," called Adachi, conversationally. "Weren't you supposed to be taking the day off, or something? Could have sworn I heard you tell Nanako-chan that we weren't gonna be training today."

Yu shrugged. "She's exhausted," he muttered. "She needed the day off. If she'd known I was planning on coming here, she'd never have been willing to rest, and she needs it."

"Huh." Adachi snorted. "You know, you're a real deceptive son of a bitch when you want to be. Actually, I'm almost relieved…used to think you were kind of a push over. Guess you and I have more in common than I thought."

Yu knew that Adachi was baiting him, and willed himself not to rise to it. "You and I have nothing in common," he informed Adachi quietly. "Now call your persona. I don't have time for this."

Adachi, however, wasn't finished. "Aw, come on," he insisted. "Nothing in common? You seriously believe that? That's crap, and you know it. Wait, isn't that what drew you to me in the first place? You know, why you were always hanging around Junes, bothering me, and shit? You could just feel that connection, right?" The corner of his mouth turned up in a malicious little grin as the sarcasm dripped out of his voice. Yu took a deep breath.

"I was new in town, scared, and in the middle of a situation that was too big for me to handle alone," he reminded Adachi, doing his best to keep his voice carefully level. "I wanted a friend. Any friend. You wouldn't know anything about what that feels like, would you?" He raised an eyebrow, and watched as the grin dropped suddenly off of Adachi's face. Adachi scowled and looked away, and Yu knew that he'd scored a point. "Now," he insisted. "Call your persona."

Adachi muttered something under his breath, and Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto erupted into being between them. She let out one of her disconcerting high-pitched cackles, and, somewhere a few feet to their left, something squealed in terror and scurried away. Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto's head snapped eagerly around at the sound, and she bounced a little on the balls of her feet, and then took off in pursuit. Like he was being pulled by an invisible string, Adachi trailed along after her, and Yu had to rush to keep up as Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto threaded her way through and under caution tape and around corners until she finally overtook the fleeing shadow.

"Give her a command," Yu told Adachi.

Adachi looked miserable. "If you think that I'm taking orders from you-!" he began, but didn't' have a chance to finish. Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto launched herself at the shadow and began working her violent, gorey magic on it while it screamed in panicked protest. "Look," began Adachi. "That thing's gonna be dead in a few minutes. The hell does it matter how that happens? She beats the shadow, we win the game, we move on. Right?"

"If she kills it by tearing it apart like that," retorted Yu, "then we're going to go and find another one, and then another one, until you manage to use some magic. You might as well start working on it now."

Adachi sighed. "My life sucks," he muttered. "All right. Jeez. Have it your way. Hey, Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto. Relax. Let's do some magic. Agi!"

The persona turned around, gave Adachi a dubious look, and then returned her attention to disemboweling the shadow. Adachi looked surprised. "Oh, come on," he mumbled.

"Again," insisted Yu.

"Hey!" This time, Adaci was a little more aggressive. "What the hell? I'm talking to you! Agi!"

This time, Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto didn't even look over. She completely ignored him. Yu watched as Adachi began to look genuinely annoyed. He narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists, moving in on the persona and her prey.

"This isn't a fucking democracy!" shouted Adachi. "We're doing a fire attack! Agi! Now!"

Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto frowned, and then gazed at Adachi for a moment with something like surprise and a grudging respect in her eye. Yu shuddered, realizing that they were somehow Adachi's own eyes, or at least the same strangely crazed eyes that he'd seen in his several encounters with Shadow Adachi.

"You heard me," repeated Adachi, pointing at the shadow. "Agi!"

This time, Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto shrugged, lifted a hand, and rained a cascade of fire down on the head of the squealing shadow. Almost instantly, the shadow dissolved into a pool of red and black shadow essence, and the persona returned to Adachi's side, looking slightly bored.

"Cool. Are we done now?" Adachi turned on Yu, grinning but looking a little less confident than he was apparently trying to sound. _Actually, _realized Yu, _he looks a little tired. Did that one command really take that much out of him? This is going to be harder than I thought…_

Yu was just opening his mouth to insist that they try the whole thing again when he heard footsteps approaching rapidly from behind him. He spun around to see the entire investigation team rushing towards him, with Chie and Yosuke in the lead, both looking excited and frantic.

"Yu-kun!" shouted Chie. "What are you doing? I thought we agreed that no one goes in alone!"

"I…wish I was surprised," muttered Yosuke rolling his eyes. "But…honestly, I'm not. It's not like this would be the first time, or, hey, even the fourth or fifth time…"

"Hey, come on, it's not a big deal," began Adachi, stepping in before Yu even had a chance to respond. "I mean, technically he's not alone, right? I'm here, aren't I?"

That seemed to startle and throw everyone for a moment. Yosuke scowled, Naoto looked slightly impressed, and Chie just stared. "I…I guess that's…sort of true," she stammered unhappily. "Although…I mean…that's not…uh, the whole reason we didn't' want him going in alone was-!"

"The hell are you so nervous for?" asked Kanji, shrugging. "Like it's some big secret or something?" Turning to Adachi, he said, "We just didn't want you getting the chance to mess with him, that's all. So, what's going on here? You fucking with our leader? Cause if you're throwing down with senpai, then you're gonna have to face me first!"

Kanji looked like he meant it, and Yosuke didn't seem to have any objection. They both took a step forward, and Naoto spoke up quickly to intervene.

"You two," she barked, "control yourselves. This isn't important…not at the moment, at least. We have something far more urgent to discuss with you, senpai."

"Yeah, right!" Yosuke tore his attention away from Adachi. "Hey, listen-!"

"Chief Taiga saw Officer Fujioka on the midnight channel!" interrupted Chie breathlessly. "Dojima-san was talking about it just now. He said, like, 'Taiga says he saw Fujioka's face in the TV,' or something. I mean, how is that possible? We definitely checked the midnight channel weeks ago, and it hasn't even rained for days!"

"The midnight channel?" Yu frowned. "You're right, we did check, but…" In truth, he'd almost entirely forgotten about the midnight channel itself in the face of recent events. That seemed incredibly stupid, especially considering the crucial part the TV had played in the murders ten years ago. Yu was slightly ashamed of himself.

"I'm…not entirely sure that the midnight channel is behaving the same way that it did in our first encounter with the TV world," murmured Naoto. "Do you remember, Chie, exactly what Dojima-san said? It sounded almost as though Chief Taiga had begun seeing images of Fujioka's face after, or rather as a direct result of Fujioka's death. Dojima-san did seem to be expressing concerns over Chief Taiga's mental health, something that he would probably not have done if the images Taiga complained of had begun appearing prior to Fujioka's death."

Everyone stared at Naoto. "Wait…uh…what?" asked Kanji. "So…you're saying people appear now after they're dead? The hell does that make any sense?"

Naoto shrugged. "The rules of the TV world have clearly greatly altered," she said. "There is little in this case that we can take for granted. We must re-examine the situation through new eyes, to the best of our abilities."

"And that means that we can't rely on the midnight channel as a way of figuring out who will disappear next," muttered Yu, disappointed. "It sounds like it's taunting us, more than helping us."

For a long moment, everyone was silent. Then, Yosuke sighed.

"Well," he said, "that was…anticlimactic."

_You're not wrong, _thought Yu. He, too, for just a moment, had seen what he'd hoped was a glimmer of possibility. It was more than a little disappointing that this new discovery didn't seem like it was going to be useful at all.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better," announced Rise, speaking up for the first time, "I'm sure there's no one in the TV world right now. I mean…no one except for us."

"That's good!" Yukiko nodded. "Then we still have some time to figure out who the next victim is going to be!"

_Unless, _thought Yu, _that person is already dead. _He didn't have the heart to say it out loud.

**Meanwhile, at the police station…**

Dojima was stewing at his desk when he heard the front door open, and looked up to see Chief Taiga striding in, holding a large Junes grocery bag in each hand. "Sorry I'm late!" he announced. "I, uh…well, honestly, I slept right through my alarm." He gave the station as a whole a sheepishly uncertain kind of smile, and most of them either glanced away or smiled uncertainly back. "I stopped off to get lunch, though. Figure a lot of us are working overtime, not taking our breaks. I want to make sure everyone's staying at the top of their game, so don't' be shy about digging in."

He dropped the bags off next to the coffee maker, and then hurried over to Togoshi's desk. Dojima felt himself relaxing a little. Whatever his forebodings had been, they seemed silly now. Taiga looked exhausted, as always, but that seemed to be the worst of it.

"Detective Togoshi?" asked the chief. Togoshi stood up, nodding, and the two of them shook hands. Yanase stood up as well, Dojima noticed, although she remained politely in the background, watching. "I'm sorry I wasn't here when you arrived this morning," continued Taiga. "We've spoken on the phone, but I should have greeted you in person. You'll have to excuse me; it's been a weird week."

"Not a problem," Togoshi assured him. "Hey, things happen, I get it. No sweat. Detective Dojima gave us a quick rundown on the facts, so…I think we're all caught up. Looking forward to working with you."

Taiga glanced over at Dojima, and gave him a quick, grateful little smile. Dojima nodded back. "Great," Taiga muttered. "That's great. Well. In that case…I'll leave you to your work. Please don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions."

After the chief had left, Togoshi raised an eyebrow at Yanase. "What's with the demure act?" he asked her. "How come you didn't introduce yourself?"

Yanase shrugged. "It didn't seem important. He was obviously in a hurry, and besides, you're my senpai, so…"

Togoshi shook his head. "Hey, enough of that. If we're gonna be strangers in a strange land then I'm expecting you to take some control of the situation. Remember, you're my partner, not my subordinate. You have to make yourself heard, and step up to the plate."

Yanase nodded, smiled, and then murmured, "You also could have introduced me, Juro."

"Ah." Togoshi ran nervous fingers along the back of his neck. "Well you got a point there…"

Dojima briefly considered making a frenzied search through the Inaba shopping district, in quest of his two absent teammates. _Why do I have this suspicion, _he asked himself, _that I'll find them with my nephew in the Junes food court?_

"I'm hungry," said Yanase, heading for the two grocery bags in the middle of the floor. Togoshi soon followed. It only took Dojima few extra conflicted moments before he decided to join them.

**Chapter 68: Chapter Sixty Six: Old Times**

**Author's Note: **This makes two chapters…so far, so good!

Also, please note: Don't panic. Just because I have two characters interact on a positive level, that does not mean that I am pairing them up romantically. Be patient! I promise to deliver!

**Chapter Sixty Six: Just Like Old Times**

When the clock struck midnight that evening, Yu was sitting alone in his bedroom, in front of the turned-off TV. Chie, exhausted from work and maybe from the panic she'd gotten herself into earlier that day, had passed out on the sofa while she and Nanako had been watching the news, and Yu hadn't wanted to wake her. Nanako was probably studying in her own bedroom, and Dojima, Yu could only hope, was already asleep.

As he stared into the TV screen, it suddenly flashed and crackled predictably to life. For a moment, all he could see was a sort of static, and then slowly, indistinctly, a picture emerged. It was blurry and unfocused, and Yu couldn't make out faces or even body types, but, to his surprise, he was certain that there were two people displayed on the screen, rather than just one. They stood there, swaying and swimming back and forth in front of his eyes, and then suddenly the TV switched itself off, and they were gone.

_What was that all about? _he wondered, frustrated and grasping for a conclusion. _Were those the next victims of the TV world? Are there going to be two of them? Who were they? I don't know if I've ever seen those people before; it was impossible to tell!_

His phone rang, just the way it had ten years ago every time he and his friends had promised each other to check out the midnight channel before bed. The misplaced moment of nostalgia made him smile, which was a relief, albeit a strange one. "Hello?" he asked, picking up the phone. "Yosuke?"

"Did you watch it?" asked Yosuke. Something about his voice sounded off.

"Yeah," replied Yu. "Did you?"

"Uh, yeah." There was a brief pause on Yosuke's end. "But I…didn't see anything. The TV turned on, and all, but nobody appeared. What do you think it means?"

Yu was surprised. "What? Are you sure? I definitely saw someone."

"Huh?" Yosuke sounded confused. "What do you mean? We saw different things? What's up with that?"

_I have no idea, _thought Yu. _The Midnight Channel sure didn't behave this way before. Or…maybe Yosuke wasn't doing it right? He said the TV turned on, though…_

"We'll talk about it in the morning," said Yu, through and around his thoughts. "Usual place, okay? I'll see you at Junes."

Yosuke snorted a laugh. "Just like old times, right, partner?"

Yu hung up the phone, and lay on the bed for a few minutes, wondering to himself.

**The next day, at the police station…**

While Naoto, Chie, and Takahashi ate lunch at their desk, Dojima wandered off to try and find a place to collect his thoughts. He'd been unable to stop worrying about the significant looks he'd seen passing between Chie and Naoto. Pretending that nothing was going on wasn't an option, and he was sure that just asking either of them about it wouldn't achieve the desired results. He'd learned that years ago.

Chie would be clumsily deceptive, and she'd feel guilty about it. She was a good kid at heart, and she desperately wanted to be a police detective. Still, loyalty could be a two-edged sword, Dojima knew, and Chie was loyal enough to her friends and particularly to Yu that she'd never be willing to give them away, even for the sake of her chosen career. Naoto, who'd been lying, deceiving, and deducing her entire life, would probably think of some plausible way to shrug Dojima off and would go about her business as though nothing had happened at all, except that she'd be twice, if not three times as cautious in the future.

There was a little makeshift gym in a back room of the police station, which contained a few floor mats, a set of hand weights, and a couple of old, decrepit cardiovascular machines that must have been donated to the station even before Dojima's time there had begun. No one ever used the gym, and Dojima often went there when he needed a moment during the day to cool down or try to clear his head.

Today, however, when he entered the gym, something was different. Someone was actually running on the treadmill.

Detective Cho Yanase, clad in a pair of oversized sweatpants and an old black t-shirt, was running her little heart out, while distant strains of peppy pop music could be heard around the edges of her loose earphones. She was sweaty, as though she'd been at it for a while, and she was staring very hard at some point against the far wall, apparently zoning out to the sound of the music.

_So, that machine does still work, _thought Dojima. _I think most of the force has forgotten that this room even exists. I wonder where Togoshi went? I haven't seen him at work today. He's even worse about showing up on time than Adachi was, if that's possible. I bet that can be a real pain for a kid Yanase's age. How old is she, anyway? Doesn't look like she's any older than Yu or Chie. Maybe they paired her up with Togoshi so that he could show her the ropes. Yeah, that's why Adachi and I got stuck together on that murder case, too. They wanted me to teach him how to be a good detective. Not that I did a great job of it…not my finest hour, huh? Well, no point in rehashing that crap again…not like I haven't been over it enough._

Belatedly, he realized that he, too, was zoning out, and that he was now staring, quite unintentionally, at Yanase, who'd apparently noticed his presence. She frowned, and raised an eyebrow. Dojima sighed._This is awkward, _he thought.

"Sorry, Detective," he muttered. "I wasn't staring. Um…I mean, I wasn't, uh…"

Unexpectedly, Yanase grinned at him. "It's okay," she assured him. "I didn't assume. I don't get stared at a lot, you know?" She laughed, a little sadly. "Oh, did you want to use the machine? I'm sorry, I wasn't sure if there was a schedule for who's allowed to use the gym at what time, so…"

Dojima shook his head. "No, it's fine. I was just…wandering, I guess."

It sounded stupid coming out of his mouth, but Yanase nodded as though it made all the sense in the world. "Right," she agreed. "Okay, then I'll get out of your hair, sir." Bending down, she collected up a bag that she'd left lying on the floor next to the treadmill.

"I haven't seen Detective Togoshi today," commented Dojima, conversationally.

Yanase shook her head. "I'm…sorry about that. He said he was stopping to get coffee on his way into work this morning."

Dojima blinked. "But…it's almost noon. That was hours ago."

"Yes. Juro has a terrible sense of direction," sighed Yanase. "It's so bad, I think it might genuinely be a condition. He's a wonderful detective, and a great man, but he can't find his way out of a paper bag without help." She smiled again, apologetically. "He's a little sensitive about it, or I'd insist that we drive in together so that I could help him navigate. I don't think he'd like that, though…" She shrugged. "This isn't the first time this has happened, and…well, I'm sorry, sir, but it probably won't be the last. I promise, I'll always be in on time, and I'm decent at paperwork and phone calls, so I can cover for him until he gets in."

"You shouldn't have to," remarked Dojima. "That's not your job."

"Isn't it, though?" Yanase frowned. "I'm sure he'd do the same for me. Not that I'd ever be willing to give him the opportunity…sir." She sat down on the floor and began tugging mercilessly at her hair, doing her best to force it all into the confines of a rubber band.

There was something so certain and so confident about the way that Yanase spoke about Togoshi that Dojima found himself smiling. "I'm sure he'd appreciate that," he said quietly. "You two seem…very close."

"Oh, well…" Yanase paused for a moment. "I guess…maybe? I've always admired him…oh, but not like that!" Suddenly, she looked startled. "I mean, in a professional capacity! Not, um…oops." Dojima half-expected her to blush or turn colors, but she didn't. She just looked momentarily uncomfortable.

Dojima snorted a laugh. "I know what you meant," he assured her.

"Um, Juro put me up when I first moved to the city," went on Yanase hastily, as though eager to cover her mistake. "I started at the police academy when I was eighteen, and I rented a room in Juro's basement. He's married, with a little boy," she added, watching Dojima's face, apparently prepared for him to comment on any perceived impropriety. He didn't. "Anyway," went on Yanase, "I moved out after a couple of years, but when I got out of school, Juro gave me a recommendation for the force. Not too long after that, his partner retired, and they gave me to him to train. That was…um, I think four years ago."

Dojima nodded, and Yanase, apparently realizing that she'd been rambling a bit, suddenly shut her mouth and bit her lip. "I want to be good at this job," she said, after moment's silence. "As good as he is, I mean. I want…to be the kind of person who helps people, and saves lives. You know, um…like you, sir. When you solved that horrible murder case, I mean. You gave so many people so much closure, and…well, once I watched Juro talk a man down from jumping off the twelfth story of a building. You and he, you save lives. You make the world a better place. That's the kind of policeman I'd like to be. So when I say that I'm excited to be working with you, I mean…" She stopped, and this time she did flush, although it didn't look as pretty against her sweaty face and damp hair as it probably could have.

There was, inexplicably, a knot growing in Dojima's stomach. _That's not how it really works, _he thought. _Every now and then, we save a life. Most of the time, though, it's the ones we can't save that keep us up at night. _He thought about the chief, tossing and turning and trying not to think about poor Fujioka. He remembered the three Inaba murders that he hadn't managed to prevent. _Kid has no idea what she's talking about, _he realized. _It's just daydreams and hero worship._

"I'm…really sorry," muttered Yanase. "I'm talking way too much. I should get back to my desk." She stood up, grabbed her bag, gave Dojima a hesitant look, and left the room in a hurry.

**Meanwhile, at the Junes food court…**

Yu and Nanako drove over to the food court together as soon as Nanako was finished with school. Yosuke, Naoto, Kanji, Rise, Yukiko, and Chie were all already there, sitting around at one of the long tables and waiting for them.

"Nanako-chan!" called Yukiko, smiling. "Did you have a good day at school?"

Nanako wasn't sure how to answer that. She was barely awake, having spent the entire night up studying relentlessly, and school had gone by in a bleary sort of half-conscious daze. "It was fine," she managed to murmur. "Thank you."

"Please," insisted Naoto. "Have a seat. We were just discussing what each of us witnessed on the midnight channel yesterday evening."

"Yeah," muttered Kanji, as Yu and Nanako sat down. "or, uh, what we didn't 'witness,' I guess. I didn't see anything. The screen was totally blank!"

"I'm with Kanji." Yosuke sighed. "Nothing appeared for me, either. The TV did turn on though, that's for sure. There just wasn't any picture. I…honestly have no idea what that means."

"I too, saw nothing on the midnight channel," agreed Naoto. "For me as well, the TV turned on, but did not display an image."

"It was the same for me." Yukiko frowned. "I don't understand…I was so sure something would appear. After all, didn't Dojima-san say he'd seen something? Or, no, wait, that's not quite right…"

"The midnight channel…" mused Nanako thoughtfully. "There were all sorts of rumors about that ten years ago, when Big Bro first came to visit. Everyone said you could see your soul mate when you looked into the TV at midnight, right?"

"Correct." Naoto nodded. "But in actuality, the midnight channel was something of a window into the human psyche, and subsequently displayed the face and figure of the individual who would be next kidnapped by Taro Namatame and throw into the TV world. You, yourself, Nanako-chan, appeared on the midnight channel at one point, after your interview with the local politician became popular televised news."

Nanako saw Yu shoot a warning glance at Naoto, who shrugged, but fell silent. Nanako tried not to look as uneasy as she suddenly felt. "Yeah…of course," she murmured. "That makes sense."

"Did anyone actually see anything on the TV last night?" asked Yu, somewhat abruptly.

"Yeah…I did." Rise bit her lip. "I couldn't tell who it was, though…although I think it was a man. Just like before, I couldn't make his face out, but there was something familiar about him. Um…wow, I guess I forgot how weird this is."

"A man…" Naoto sighed. "I'm afraid that doesn't give us very much information. It is certainly interesting, however, and somewhat suggestive that only Rise could actually see a picture last night. If it was only Rise, then-!"

"I saw someone," murmured Yu. "It was…I think it was two people. I couldn't tell who they were, either. One of them may have been a man…or maybe they both were."

Rise's eyes widened. "Do you think it was the same person? Or…one of the same people?"

"Whoa, wait, hang on." Yosuke held up a hand. "Two people? Are you saying that there are gonna be two victims at the same time, next? That sounds, uh…well, tough, honestly."

"Or maybe even three," said Chie gloomily. "I mean, if the people that Rise and Yu saw weren't actually the same people, then…"

The team began muttering unhappily amongst themselves. Nanako couldn't make out any individual words or conversations, but everyone looked and sounded frustrated and confused. She, too, was getting more and more confused by the moment.

"Excuse me." Naoto spoke up. Slowly, everyone turned back around to face her. "If you'll give me a moment, I have a theory about what we might be experiencing. First, I'll need to run through some of the facts with you, since some of you have had experiences in the TV world recently that I haven't been witness to."

Yosuke nodded. Yu settled back farther in his seat, and Kanji crossed his arms over his chest and rested them on the table. Everyone was all ears.

_Wait, _thought Nanako, glancing around at the expectant faces of the group. _But…where's Teddie?_

**Chapter 69: Chapter Sixty Seven: Gloom**

**Author's Note: **Ooh, this one's important, so please don't skip the author's note!

First of all, this makes three chapters. I'm doing well towards meeting my goal!  
In more exciting news, though (well, at least I think so,) I've finally begun publishing an original work on Fictionpress! It's called **Black is the Color**, and it's a mystery/romance story about a murder at a popular Renaissance Faire! It's extra fun, because it's very much like **M-Path** (which I am, by the way, still actively working on behind the scenes), in that the reader gets to make suggestions to help me tell the story. If you have a minute please do check it out! It's pretty short, so far, and I hope you'll have fun reading the story and helping the heroine solve the murder and possibly find romance at the same time!

I'm **Ari Moriarty** on fictionpress, as well, so it should be easy to find me. Thanks for indulging my shameless self-promotion!

And now, on the story.

**Chapter Sixty Seven: Gloom**

Margaret sighed heavily.

That, in itself, was pretty strange. Adachi looked over at her from his seat on the Velvet Room floor, and raised a quizzical eyebrow. "What's eating you?" he asked.

"What?" Margaret frowned. "Oh…I apologize. It is nothing."

_Yeah? Sure doesn't look like nothing, _thought Adachi. _The hell does she have to sigh about? Then again, I guess it is pretty damn boring in here, and she's stuck in here all the time, too…plus, wasn't she making all sorts of long trips to the real world, not too long ago? Maybe now that she's had a taste of what life's supposed to be like, she's feeling how stuffy it is in this room. That'd make sense._

Again, Margaret sighed. Adachi's brow furrowed. _Wait, hang on, _he realized. _Wasn't she saying some weird stuff a while back about dating, and how it was hard, and…whoa, how'd I go and forget about something like that? Ugh, not that I envy the guy in question…dating Margaret would be kind of like trying to cuddle up to a cold fish. Still, she does look kind of, uh…well, different, right now. Guess she's not quite as cold as I thought, maybe. Or something._

"You wanna talk about it?" he asked.

Margaret stared. "Do I want to…what?"

Adachi shrugged. "Come on, I'm a captive audience. I'm bored of out of my skull. Sounds like you've got shit to get off your chest, and I could use a good laugh. What's up? What's all the sighing and moaning about?"

"You…wish to discuss my problems with me?" Margaret sounded extremely dubious. "I don't understand. How do my worries have any effect on you? What could you possibly get out of listening to me discuss them?"

"I already told you." Adachi shook his head. "I've got nothing else to do, right? Come on, don't make out like I'm some kind of freaking good Samaritan, I just want something to take my mind off this place. It's a win-win situation, see? So? Are you gonna tell me, or not?"

"I…" Margaret was biting her lip. "I think…not."

_Oh well, _thought Adachi. _It was worth a try. _He went back to staring at the far wall, unfocusing his eyes and trying to picture what the hell kind of man would be able to put up with Margaret for longer than a few minutes at a stretch. _She is really hot, _he reminded himself. _I mean…okay, really, really hot. I'm not saying I wouldn't hit that if the opportunity arose, but…dating? Talking to her is like having a conversation with a piece of furniture. Then again, maybe her not talking so much is a good thing…I could like that in a girl._

"But…thank you," murmured Margaret, unexpectedly.

Adachi glanced up at her. "Uh, what?"

"Thank you," repeated Margaret, giving him the first genuine, if tiny smile he'd ever received from her. "I…the consideration is appreciated."

Adachi was just opening his mouth to respond to that when the familiar, distracting, disembodied voice began echoing around in his head.

_I am thou, and thou art I, _intoned the voice. _Thou hast established a new bond. Thou shalt be blessed when creating personas of the Empress arcane._

"Uh," mumbled Adachi, startled. "Wait, why…um, never mind."

As Margaret went back to leafing through the compendium, Adachi puzzled over what had just happened. _I'm not sure I deserved that, _he decided. _And uh, not so sure I want it, either…_

**Meanwhile, in the Junes food court…**

Naoto straightened up and launched into her promised explanation. Around her, her friends remained respectfully and curiously silent.

"So," she began, "to recapitulate the last few days; we first re-entered the TV world, a little more than a week ago, after Yu-senpai reported to us that Igor and Margaret of the Velvet Room had informed him the coming of a new menace. Once in the TV world, we, or rather, Yosuke-senpai encountered a new kind of shadow, which took first his form, and subsequently the form of Saki Konishi, the second of Adachi-san's victims ten years ago.

"That's right," muttered Yosuke. "It was Saki. Only…the stuff that she said; I think it was all stuff out of my memories. All those things she told me, they were like stuff I'd heard her say before. It was weird, like she was just echoing the same things that I keep remembering her saying. I get that, now…but it was kinda hard to figure out when she was right there in front of me."

Naoto nodded. "Understandably so. In that case, however, and based on what we already know about the nature of the shadows we formerly encountered in the TV world, I believe it is safe to say that this incarnation of Saki Konishi came entirely from your own brain. It was a memory of her that you have been holding on to; a memory that thus manifested itself from your psyche when you entered into that other world. Does that make sense?"

Everyone nodded. Nanako, however, wasn't entirely sure. _It doesn't make a lot of sense, no, _she thought. _Manifestations of psyche? Memories appearing outside of your head? That's…well, that's not supposed to happen. It doesn't sound real. Then again, my English teacher always says that you have to think about things in context. If you think about this context, then…I guess Naoto-san's explanation is the only one that really could make sense. Wow, this is kind of hard._

"Very good," continued Naoto. "The next shadow that we encountered, then, theoretically came from Kanji-kun's mind. As I understand it, it took the form of his father. Is that correct?"

"Yeah," agreed Kanji, nodding. "It was my old man. I mean…it looked like him, anyway."

"And the four of you defeated that shadow by using against it the same weakness that ultimately felled Kanji's father in the real world," Naoto went on. Kanji flinched slightly, and Naoto frowned. "Forgive me, Kanji-kun," she murmured. "That was…insensitive of me."

Kanji shook his head. ""S nothing. Forget it."

Yosuke gave Kanji a little friendly punch on the shoulder. Kanji turned on him for a moment, grimacing, then slowly smiled.

"In any case," sighed Naoto. "The rest of the shadows we've met since have been of a similar nature. Even Chie-senpai's shadow, though it took the form of a living person, seemed to be something that came out of her memories. It was an image of Yu-senpai the way she had once imagined him to be, which supports the theory that the shadows, as they now appear, are recollections of people from our pasts."

Now both Yu and Chie looked uncomfortable. Nanako, who had been present for that particular battle, couldn't blame them. _Naoto-san isn't being very nice about this, _she decided. _Does she really need to say all these harsh things in front of everyone? But then…I guess they already knew. Still, it's…kind of hurtful to have to face it in the open like this._

"Then, most recently," Naoto was saying, "we discovered a new location inside the TV world. This new place appeared to be based on the same apartment building in which Officer Fujioka's mother died, implying that perhaps his most powerful memory was that of his recently deceased mother. We can only conjecture that it must have been the shadow of his mother that ultimately brought about his death in the TV world. We…also saw the shadow of my Grandpa, that same day." Naoto swallowed. "I believe that it goes without saying at this point that the new shadows we have discovered are based on memories of guilt, and sadness, people who have left us, but with whom we still have unfinished business. It is their imprint on our minds which causes them to manifest inside the TV world. I am…reasonably certain, at this point, that that is true."

"I think you're right," agreed Yu nodding. "Everything adds up. But, we still don't understand why this is happening. The TV world doesn't operate on its own. It's not a malicious place. Someone has to be behind this, and it has to be someone wielding a ton of power. It could even be another god."

"Oh…I wish you hadn't said that out loud." Chie sighed. "I was trying so hard not to think about it. How are we gonna defeat a god, huh?"

"We've done it before," Yukiko reminded her quietly. "If we have to, we can do it again."

"Yeah, but…" Chie sighed. "Jeez. We barely made it through the first time…"

Nanako was thinking hard. _So, if everything that Naoto-san says is true, then what does that mean about the Midnight Channel? Why did Big Bro see people, but nobody else did? Naoto-san says that you see the victims of the TV world on the Midnight Channel, but…how can that be? If that was true, then everyone would be able to see them, right? I think that's right. What was it that Chie-san said? Dad was talking to her about the Midnight Channel, and he said that the police chief saw Fujioka-san's face on it. Fujioka-san was definitely a victim, but…_

"Therefore," finished Naoto quietly, "Although this is something of a logical leap, I believe that the Midnight Channel is showing us the faces of the people who still lurk in our memories. Now that so many of us have defeated our shadows, we are no longer able to see those faces on the Midnight Channel. We have overcome that part of ourselves, and so for us, the TV world has nothing left. Taiga-san, on the other hand, still consumed with guilt over the loss of one of his men, still had something to see on the Midnight Channel. He saw the face of the man whom looms the largest in his guilty memory; Officer Fujioka."

_Right, _thought Nanako. _Yes, exactly! I was going to get there…eventually._

"Right." Yukiko nodded "Yes. I agree."

Rise, who had been strangely quiet throughout the entire conversation, finally spoke up for the first time. "So…the person who I saw on the Midnight Channel was someone I'm feeling guilty about?" she asked.

Naoto nodded. "That seems likely, yes. Forgive the insensitive question, but is there anyone who you can think of who fits that description? You said that the figure appeared to be that of a man…"

Rise took a deep breath. "Yeah," she whispered. "Um…Inoue-san. There was a car accident last year…he was on his way to a show with Kanamin, but she's…she's been really going off the rails lately. She drinks too much, and she parties too much, and I think her driver must have been drunk, too, because…" Rise trailed off, and shook her head. "Um, it doesn't matter," she muttered. "But, it's him. It has to be."

Yukiko reached out and clasped Rise's hand. Rise didn't say anything. They just sat there in silent accord for a minute. Then, Yukiko let go, and Rise straightened up.

"Rise-chan," began Nanako. She started to stand up, to go over to Rise and to give her a hug, if nothing else. Then, something strange happened, and there was a painless sort of pinch in the back of Nanako's mind.

_I am thou, and thou art I, _said the bodiless voice that Nanako had heard only once before. _Thou hast established a new bond. Thou wilt be blessed when creating personas of the Empress arcana._

"Oh!" exclaimed Naoto, as strange warmth began slowly washing over her. Somehow, she could feel Adachi's mind tenuously tied to her own, as he registered the same surprise and something like chagrin at the sound of the voice.

"Hey, hang on a second." Yosuke frowned. "Okay, so far, so good. I get everything, uh, I think. But...we still don't know how to figure out who the next victim is going to be. I mean, we don't even know how the hell the victims are getting into the TV! If Adachi's not doing it, then…"

"He's not." Nanako was adamant. She glared defiantly at Yosuke, who sighed.

"Look,' he replied, "I'm not saying he is. I mean…I guess Naoto's right. He's a mess; he doesn't have it in him. But that doesn't change the fact that someone's throwing people into the TV again, and they're dying. That's what we really need to be focused on right now. We need to come up with plan to catch this guy!"

Yosuke looked over at Naoto, who for once didn't seem to have any more answers. He turned his attention to Yu, who shook his head sadly. Yosuke held up his hands in defeat. "Then, basically, we're no better off than we were when we started."

No one seemed to be able to deny that. The atmosphere was gloomy.

**Chapter 70: Chapter Sixty Eight: Nausea**

**Author's Note: **Alack! I did not meet my goal for this week.

The good news is, though, if you bear with me for one more month, I can start updating daily again. In the meantime, here's a chapter I enjoyed writing.

I promised **JustCharles** a glimpse of what we sometimes refer to as the "big bad" a while ago, and I do like to deliver on my promises.

Oh, also, I believe I'll have another story recommendation for you by tomorrow! I have one that I'm excited to start reading ASAP, and I think it's gonna be good, so bear with me till tomorrow!

**Chapter Sixty Eight: Nausea**

Dojima wasn't entirely sure what time it was, although he could see that the sun had gone down. Chie and Naoto had already left, claiming exhaustion and a desperate need for a good night's sleep. In fact, it was only him, Taiga, Togoshi and Yanase left in the station.

A few feet away, someone's stomach growled. Dojima looked up from his paperwork to see Yanase looking embarrassed,.

"Hah," snorted Togoshi. "Told you shouldn't have gone to the gym. Who has time to burn calories? Now you're hungry."

"Sorry," murmured Yanase. "Um, I'm fine."

Her stomach growled again, louder this time. She glared at it. Togoshi grinned at her, and she turned the glare on him.

"Well," sighed Chief Taiga, standing up from his desk and striding over towards them. "I'm hungry too. Maybe it's time we took a break."

"Sounds good." Togoshi was quick to agree He stood up and stretched his arms over his head, and Dojima heard something pop audibly. Togoshi winced. Smiling slightly, Yanase gave him a gentle nudge in the ribs.

"Maybe you should have gone to the gym today," she told him.

"Would the three of you be interested in joining me at Aiya?" asked Taiga, gathering up his coat. "It's my treat. Nothing fancy, I'm afraid, but it's food. Afterwards we can get back to work on full stomachs. What do you say?"

He gave them all an encouraging smile which looked strained and forced from where Dojima was standing. Somewhat reluctantly, Dojima abandoned his desk and joined Taiga. Togoshi and Yanase soon followed.

They walked several blocks to Aiya, which was almost empty due to the lateness of the hour. Togoshi was a reasonably sized man, and he took up some space, but they did manage to find a table in the corner that they could all squeeze into together.

"Anybody mind if I drink?" asked Togoshi. He didn't spend too long waiting for a response, but immediately flagged down the waiter and ordered a bottle of sake. "You're in, right, Dojima-san? Cho? You game?"

"Someone has to drive back to the station," Yanase reminded him.

Taiga waved that away with one hand. "I'll drive," he assured them. "Have a good time. Please."

They ordered a few plates of beef and fried rice, and eventually the food arrived, along with the alcohol. Togoshi took it upon himself to pour a large glass, and then to pour Yanase an even larger one. Dojima took hold of the bottle and poured his own before Togoshi had the opportunity.

"We have to toast to something," announced Togoshi. "Anybody got a suggestion?"

"To a successfully concluded investigation," replied Yanase, raising her glass.

Dojima nodded. "I can get behind that, yeah," he agreed.

"Sure, yeah." Togoshi nodded, they clinked glasses, and he took a swig. Putting the glass down on the table again, he added, "but how about another one?" Throwing a companionable arm around Yanase's shoulders, he gave her a little squeeze, and she raised an eyebrow. "To us," he said. "Cho and me. Uh, if I've got the date right, and maybe I don't, then today marks the four year anniversary of our being partners. That's right, isn't it, Cho?"

He frowned, and Dojima watched Yanase stifle a smile with one hand. "I think so, yes," she agreed quietly, although Dojima wasn't entirely sure that he believed her. Dutifully, he and Taiga raised their glasses, and again, everyone drank.

"Four years," murmured Dojima, while Yanase began eagerly digging into her fried rice."Yeah, that's something to celebrate."

"It's…been a privilege," agreed Yanase. "I've been very lucky, I've learned so much from Juro."

"Tch." Togoshi shook his head. "You just wait. Four more years and you'll be teaching me the ropes. Everything's different nowadays from the way we used to do it when I was a rookie. You're a quick learner, anyway. Won't be long till you don't need me at all."

"Nonsense." Yanase rolled her eyes, but other than that, she made no comment. Dojima got the sense that this was a conversation she and Togoshi had engaged in several times before. Togoshi beamed benevolently at her.

"Kiyoko – oh, that's my wife – anyway, she's really happy to see a woman on the police force, finally! You know, it's been almost twenty years since we've seen a girl working for the station? And they say this little town is backwards…but we're not much better, I guess."

_I'd love to see what would happen if someone tried to tell Satonaka that women don't belong on the force, _reflected Dojima, smiling to himself. _Or, on second thought, no, I wouldn't. There would…probably be bodies to clean up._

For some reason, Yanase looked annoyed. "I like to think that my being a woman has nothing to do with my status as a police detective," she muttered. "At all, I mean. My gender isn't a reason to be proud of me."

"You're wrong." Togoshi slapped one hand down on the table for emphasis. "You had to overcome obstacles that the rest of us didn't. That's something. Means you had to be the best of the best. You really don't get that, yet?"

Yanase looked over at Chief Taiga, presumably in hopes of support, but Taiga shook his head.

"I can't argue with him," he said. "It's true, what your partner says. You must be pretty good if you've made it this far, and I won't pretend that we don't have our fair share of prejudices in this field. You should be proud of yourself."

Yanase didn't say anything. She just looked more disgruntled, and sank her fork unhappily into her rice. Dojima found himself nodding in approval. _She's right, you know, _he thought. _Can't blame her for wanting to be recognized for her own merits. Feel like we should be commending her for that, not discouraging it. Not that Togoshi doesn't have a valid point…_

He frowned for a moment, suddenly and irrationally imagining Nanako all dressed up in a police uniform with a stoic look on her face and a gun in her hand. _Then again, _he decided, _maybe there's a reason we keep our women out of the police force. It's not fun to think about our daughters in gunfights._

Yanase and Dojima's eyes met over her plate of rice, and she raised her eyebrow defiantly at him, taking a large swig of her sake.

"It's getting late," muttered Taiga, glancing down reluctantly at his watch. "Got things to do tonight. I've gotta be heading out, soon…"

**Some time later, in the Velvet Room…**

"Agi!" commanded Adachi, watching from behind the caution tape as Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto incinerated yet another enemy. As the shadow dissolved into red and black essence, Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto yawned and gave Adachi a slightly disgusted look. "Jeez," muttered Adachi. "Gimme a break, don't look at me like that. This wasn't my idea…"

Somewhere off in the distance, something rustled. Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto grinned with malice stamped all over her face, and took off in the direction of the noise. Adachi started to follow her, then changed his mind and sat down on the ground instead.

"Fine, sure," he mumbled. "Why not? Get it out of both our systems, I guess."

He listened for a few minutes to the sounds of terrified squealing and ripping, trying to choke down the unexpectedly delicious upswell of disgust and exhilaration that was welling in his soul. In the end, all it made him feel was nauseous and vaguely dazed. Eventually, the sounds faded away, and Adachi waited for Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto to return from the kill.

Strangely enough, she didn't come back.

"Hey!" he called out, standing up. "Where the hell did you go?"

Still, there was no response. Adachi tried not to start freaking out. Instead, he got to his feet and started off in the direction that Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto had gone. It took him a few minutes, and he had to step through not one but two clouds of rapidly dissolving shadow essence on the way, but eventually he found her, standing stock still and alert, her feeding frenzy apparently forgotten.

"Come on," he snarled, grabbing at her arm. "Enough of this shit, we're going back to the Velvet Room. I'm gonna pass out. This is…" then he trailed off, noticing what Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto was looking at. "…Uh. Whoa."

Someone was lying on the ground, sprawled on his back, arms splayed out to both sides. Adachi's detective instincts picked up relatively quickly that the man wasn't moving, or even breathing. He was almost certainly dead.

"No way," muttered Adachi. "Did you…I mean, did I? We? Uh…" He glanced over at Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto, who, as usual, ignored him. Still, there was nothing like hostility coming off of her, now. She was merely curious, and Adachi was reasonably certain that he would have known if either of himselves had killed someone. At least, he hoped that was the case. _Things have been feeling more and more sorta disjointed lately, _he thought. _Like there are pieces missing, or something…whatever that means._

Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto suddenly went rigid, and as she and Adachi watched, something lithe and dark stood up from behind the dead body, and turned to face them. Adachi sucked in a sharp breath, and he could feel that even his persona was temporarily alarmed. The creature standing before them was a horrible, festering monster in vaguely human form, covered with wounds, scabs, boils and what appeared to be crawling insects which completely obscured the face and figure and left it unclear juts who or what exactly Adachi was even looking at.

"H-holy shit," he muttered, clenching his teeth. Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto assumed a fighting stance, although she wasn't her usually eager self at all. Neither of them felt too immediately inclined to engage this…thing.

As it turned out, they didn't have to. The creature gave them one long, inscrutable look, then turned on it's heel and glided away, disappearing from sight in a matter of mere seconds. Adachi and his persona remained watching for several tense moments until they were sure that they were alone. Then Adachi turned his attention back to the corpse on the ground.

**Meanwhile, outside Aiya…**

"Ugh, wow." Togoshi stumbled over the threshold as the three detectives made their way out of Aiya around closing time, and back into the Inaba streets. They'd decided to let Taiga head off on his own hours ago, and were now stuck deciding whether or not they wanted to walk, or brave summoning a local taxi cab.

Dojima reached out and just managed to catch Togoshi, who was already being supported by Yanase from the other side. _Dizzy as crap, _thought Dojima blearily, as blurry and colorful spots danced around his sake-sodden mind. _Can't let Nanako see me like this…not that it'd be the first time. Damn._

"Dojima-san," said Yanase, slipping around Togoshi so that she could get her other arm up under Dojima's. "Are you all right? You're…sort of swaying back and forth. Are you going to be able to get home?"

Dojima squinted at her. He was sure that he'd seen her drink all the sake that Togoshi had been able to pour, and yet somehow, inexplicably, she was still standing upright, and making an almost stupid amount of sense.

"You're not drunk," he accused her.

Yanase shook her head. "No sir," she agreed.

"Well." Dojima frowned. "You should be drunk." For some reason, Yanase being sober felt extremely suspicious to Dojima. He realized suddenly that he'd spent the last ten seconds at least staring at one of her shoes.

"No sir," repeated Yanase patiently. "I shouldn't be. If I was drunk, then none of us would be sober."

_Ah, _thought Dojima. _Logic. Damn that woman. _He thought about sober women, and about women who could drink and drink and still be sober. He thought about Margaret, and how pretty she looked when she was somehow managing not to get drunk. _She looks pretty no matter what she does, _he reminded himself. _She'd even make being ugly look pretty. She's…oh, hell. Pretty's not the word. She's…I'm never gonna see her again, am I? I did that to my fucking self. Why would I do that? Beautiful woman…and she was willing to put up with me, too. I haven't met someone like that since…uh, well, since…_

Self-consciously, he turned his wedding ring around on his finger, bit his lip, and barked, "Detective Yanase?"

"Yes, sir?" inquired Yanase.

"I hate my life," muttered Dojima.

"Yes, sir," agreed Yanase politely. Togoshi muttered something unintelligible, and burped. Yanase didn't bat an eyelash. "Now, sirs, with all due respect, you're heavy and you smell. Let's get you home."

"Uh," mumbled Togoshi. Yanase started hauling him upright, and reached into her pocket for her cell phone.

**Chapter 71: Chapter Sixty Nine: Initiative**

**Author's Note: **Am having a little trouble focusing visually tonight, so please bear with me. I apologize for any flagrant typos, and I promise to correct them ASAP. Thanks, as always, for your patience!

**Chapter Sixty Nine: Initiative**

Nanako was lying on her stomach on the bed, frowning at her science textbook when her alarm started going off. According to the digital clock on the bedside table, it was already midnight. Nanako sighed. She still hadn't heard Dad come home from work, and she'd been hoping to at least stay up until he made it in, although it was getting harder and harder to keep her eyes open by the minute. Pulling her cell phone out from under her pillow, she dialed Teddie's number, and then listened for a few seconds until, yet again, his voicemail picked up. She hadn't been able to reach him all evening. Frustrated, Nanako put the phone down. _Where could he be? _she wondered. _Does Big Bro know? Did Big Bro send him to do a mission somewhere? He doesn't seem worried about Teddie, anyway…_

She turned her attention back to the textbook, although the words were now sort of swimming in front of her face as she tried to stay awake. Something moved just out of the corner of her eye, and Nanako looked up again, surprised, to see Adachi's torso sticking halfway out of the TV. He was in the process of pulling one leg through the screen.

"Aah!" exclaimed Nanako, startled.

Adachi glared at her, then darted a glance at the door. "What? Hey, shut up, or Dojima-san'll hear you!"

"Um. He's…he's not home," began Nanako, as Adachi came fully out of the screen. "What are you…?" She paused, uncertain. Adachi looked terrible. His face was drawn and pale, and there was sweat soaking his forehead. He was shaking a little, too. "Are you…are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine." Adachi didn't seem to be paying attention. He kept looking at the door. "Uh, listen. Go and get your cousin and that brat wife of his for me." Nanako opened her mouth to inquire, but Adachi shook his head impatiently. "Don't ask stupid questions, okay? Just go!"

Nanako went.

"Big Bro?" she asked, knocking hesitantly on his bedroom door. After a moment, he opened it and stuck his head out, blinking blearily at her. Nanako winced. She'd pretty obviously woken him up.

"Nanako?" he asked. Something about the look on her face must have given him a clue, because he shook himself and then suddenly looked much more awake. "What's wrong?"

"Um, Adachi-san…is in my bedroom," she told him.

"Wha-?" Yu's eyes widened. "What do you mean? How did he-?"

"Oh, and he asked me to come get you," added Nanako hastily, aware suddenly of how her first statement must have sounded. "He looks pretty bad…I think it's important. He wants Chie-san to come, too. Can you come? Please?"

"Of course we're coming." Yu nodded once, and then ducked his head back into the room. Nanako listened to a few sleepy murmurings and rustlings, and Yu returned a few moments later, followed by an even drowsier looking Chie.

Adachi was sitting on the bed when Nanako and the others returned to her room. He wasn't shivering anymore, at least, although he still looked pretty miserable.

"What are you doing here?" demanded Yu immediately upon seeing him. "Why are you in my house?"

"There's a dead guy in Magatsu Inaba," muttered Adachi, sounding tired.

Yu and Chie stared at each other for a moment. "Wait…what?" asked Chie. "A dead guy? How?"

"The fuck should I know?" snarled Adachi. "You guys are the experts on freaky shit happening on the other side, so you tell me!"

"Did you kill him?" asked Yu quietly. Adachi's head snapped up, and for a moment glowered resentfully into Yu's unwavering gaze, then opened his mouth to protest. "The hell would I-?"

"No, he didn't," announced Nanako, interrupting Adachi mid-sentence. Adachi fell silent and stared at her for a moment. So did Yu and Chie. "He didn't kill anyone," insisted Nanako, more firmly this time. "Why would he come here to tell us about it if he had? That wouldn't make any sense."

"Heh." Adachi gave Nanako a weird, slightly uncertain sort of smile. Nanako smiled back, hoping to encourage him a little. _Don't worry, _she thought. _I know you didn't do it. You don't have to convince me. You don't have to look so scared…_

"I saw what did get him, though," muttered Adachi into the ensuing silence. "There was some giant monster thing…creepy as hell, covered in scars and wounds and shit. I didn't stick around long to get a closer look, or anything."

"A monster? Like, a really big shadow?" Chie bit her lip. "Sounds nasty…"

"Why come and tell us about it?" asked Yu.

Adachi raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? You're dumber than I thought. Some guy dies right in the middle of what's supposed to be 'my' place in the other world, right? So, we've got two options, here. Either I come and fess up, or you find him on your own with that dumbass idol chick of yours, you decide that I killed him, and we're back at square one. You think I'm enjoying this? It's not like there was a better way."

_No, _thought Nanako, _I wouldn't have thought that. After all, if there isn't any evidence, then no one can accuse you, right? That's why we have laws. Dad's always saying that…_

"Hey, can we argue about this later?" Chie was impatient. "I mean…there's a dead body in Magatsu Inaba, right? So, we have to get there before somebody or something else, does. Um, so we can preserve the evidence. And if he's not really dead yet, then…"

"He's dead, said Adachi, cutting her off. "Dead as a doornail. Seriously, extremely dead. Trust me on this one."

Chie frowned. "I'm going to check it out." Without waiting for any comment on that, she stepped forward and put one arm through Nanako's TV.

"Hold on! Wait!" Yu was at her side in a moment. "We'll go together, don't rush off like that."

"I'm coming, too!' Nanako hurried to join them. Just as she was getting ready to reach through the TV, though, Yu placed a restraining hand on her arm. Nanako looked up, surprised.

"Not this time," said Yu. "You stay here. I need you to wait for Uncle Dojima. If he comes home, he should find you here. Otherwise he'll worry."

Nanako, of course, was used to this sort of argument by now. She did her best not to get frustrated. "But it's dangerous in there," she insisted. "You shouldn't go alone."

"I'm not alone," countered Yu. "I'm with Chie. You've had enough excitement for one week. Your injuries are still healing. There's no reason for you to go in there right now. Chie and I can handle it on our own."

"Adachi-san." Nanako looked to him for support, and was surprised when he wouldn't meet her eyes.

"Yeah, stay put," he muttered, with a very closed look on his face. "For once, your cousin's right. Didn't you hear what I said? There's some big-ass monster running around in there. It's not safe for kids. Sit down and keep quiet. Anyway, you've got exams to study for."

Nanako was beginning to lose her patience. "Exams? This is way more important than my exams! Besides, Adachi-san, I can help!"

"You can help by staying here," countered Yu. "Help us by not making us worry about you. Putting yourself in danger will only upset us all and keep us from being able to focus. Do you understand?"

_You're the one who doesn't understand, _thought Nanako. _I'm worried about you, too! What if something happens to you, or Chie-san, or Adachi-san? Do you really think I can just sit here and study and pretend that you aren't in danger? I can use a persona, I'm good at it! Igor and Margaret said that I got my persona just so that I could help Adachi-san get better! How am I supposed to help if you won't even let me try?_

"Come on, Chie," began Yu. "Let's-!"

"I'm going with Nanako," interrupted Chie, unexpectedly. "You're both being stupid, and I'm starting to really get fed up with 's the same age that we were when we first entered the TV world, Yu-kun. Besides, she'll be safer going in with us than she would be if she decided to try to get into the TV world alone, right?"

"Nanako wouldn't do that," said Yu.

Chie raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah? You think so?" She gave Nanako a rueful little smile. "Uh, somehow, I doubt you're right about that. I mean, like brother, like sister, right? You guys are way more alike than you even know."

Nanako joined Chie at the TV, and Chie started through the screen.

"Chie," began Yu, a warning tone in his voice. Chie turned on him, eyes flashing.

"Don't you dare try to stop me," she told him. "Remember ten years ago, when you tried to talk me out of coming with you to save Yukiko? Well, don't think you're gonna have any more luck now than you did, then. We know what we're doing. Right, Nanako-chan?"

Nanako nodded. _Chie is really, really cool, _she thought, not for the first or even the fifth time.

Together, they stepped through the TV screen. Adachi and Yu were quick to follow.

**Meanwhile, in the shopping district…**

Dojima watched as Togoshi and Yanase sped off together in a cab, presumably towards their hotel. His head was still spinning and the world was still blurry, so he decided to have a seat on the curb for a few minutes while the alcoholic stupor waged war on his bleary consciousness.

_What time is it? _he wondered, glancing down at his watch. _How long did we stay out? Feels like the chief must have left hours ago. Should know better than to go out drinking a work night. I hope Nanako's in bed already. Knowing her, though, she's probably waiting up for me. Damn. I could have called._

With a resigned little sign, he stood up, squared his shoulders, and shook his head, wishing it would clear. Then, just as he was turning to head for home, he saw a familiar head of beautiful blond hair just across the street.

_It's…no, it couldn't be her, _he thought, getting hurriedly back to his feet. _I'm just imagining things because I'm drunk. It's wishful thinking, that's all._

The blond woman turned her head slightly, and this time there wasn't any doubt.

_Margaret. _Dojima instantly wished that he was sober. He ran a hand through his hair, tried smoothing down some of the wrinkled places on his shirt, and wondered if there was fried rice stuck in his teeth._Damn, terrible timing. Maybe I should just…_

He cut himself off mid-thought, aware that if he didn't catch her now, he might never get the chance again. _I don't even have her phone number, _he reminded himself. Stepping into the street, he stumbled, caught himself, cleared his throat, and called out. "Margaret! Uh…look, I know this might not be a great time, or anything, but I-!"

Margaret apparently didn't hear him. She stepped into a space between two of the storefronts, put out one hand, and then suddenly and alarmingly disappeared, apparently, into thin air. Dojima stopped and stared.

_Crap, _he thought. _It really was my imagination after all. I…I have it pretty bad. Ugh, and I think I'd better sit down again…_

**Chapter 72: Chapter Seventy: Without You**

**Author's Note: **Hmm, I sense that some of you are starting to get bored with this story. Here, help me out; let's see if I can improve it. Who is your favorite character in this story, and who is your least favorite character? What would you like to see more of, and what would you like to see less of? Be honest, it helps me!

I don't…love this chapter. I don't think I wrote it at all well. I will work on it and repost if necessary. I'm really enjoying working on this story, but I have to get it right. I really want to get it right…

Ah well, enough kvetching, on to the chapter.

**Chapter Seventy: Without You**

"Um…there's nothing here," remarked Chie unnecessarily, as they all stood around in Magatsu Inaba, staring blankly at the ground where the dead body supposedly had been.

"Yeah, I can see that." Adachi didn't sound too happy. "That thing, or whatever, must have moved it, I guess." He looked over at Yu, who was frowning around at the landscape.

"Tell me again what you think you saw," demanded Yu.

Adachi raised an eyebrow. "Huh? I didn't 'think' I saw anything. I saw this huge hulking pile of blisters and ugly, shuffling around behind this dead guy's corpse."

"Why didn't you do anything? You could have tried to stop it, or fight it, or-!" began Chie hotly.

Adachi turned on her. "What the hell good was that gonna do? The guy was dead already, and I didn't exactly love the idea of being next on the mincemeat list."

Chie and Adachi were glaring at each other. Nanako sighed. _This is getting us nowhere, _she thought. _They're like children…_

"You're sure, then, that he was really dead," said Yu. "There's no chance that whoever it was got up and walked away on his own, is there?"

Adachi rolled his eyes. "I'm a cop, remember? I know a dead body when I see one, and this guy was stone dead. No breath, no pulse, no nothing." Nanako smiled, and Adachi must have noticed, because he raised an eyebrow at her. "What's wrong with you?"

"You did try to save him," retorted Nanako. "You act like you didn't want to, but…you checked for a pulse, and for breathing. You wouldn't have done that if you really didn't care."

That seemed to catch Adachi up for a moment, and his mouth fell open. Then, unexpectedly, he sneered and blushed at the same time. "Like I said," he muttered, "I'm a cop. It's built in, uh, like a reflex. Anyway, didn't do any good. The guy was toast."

_Got you, _thought Nanako triumphantly. _Why do you waste so much time pretending to be so heartless?_

"Uh…hey, what the hell is that?" Adachi suddenly swung around and pointed at a shadowy figure that was moving in on them from over next to the staircase. It was large and bulky looking, although from this distance, Nanako couldn't make out any features. She peered closer, and Yu instantly stepped in front of her, blocking the way.

"Ready, everyone?" he asked.

Chie clenched her fists. "Bring it on," she mumbled. "Benzaiten!"

"All right, here we go," muttered Adachi, as Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto burst into being, cackling gleefully.

Yu summoned Izanagi-no-Okami, and the three of them created something of a wall around Nanako. She closed her eyes and whispered, "Tatsu-ta-hime…please!"

In a rush of exhilarating calm, Tatsu-ta-hime materialized before Nanako, radiating confidence. Nanako felt herself perk up a little bit as she gazed on that other part of herself. _I'm ready, _she thought._Whatever that thing it is, I won't let it hurt my friends._

A few extremely tense moments passed. Nanako held her breath while the creature loomed closer and closer. Everyone held on more tightly to their weapons. Then, the creature stepped into a pool of light, and Nanako could see patches of red, blue and white fur.

"Um…guys?" Teddie blinked at them, eyes wide. "Why…why do you all look so scary? It's just me, Teddie! You…you're really freaking me out!"

He cowered back a step, while Nanako and the rest of her party slowly let themselves relax.

"Teddie?" demanded Chie. "What are you doing here?"

"Jeez." Adachi groaned. "It's just the stupid bear…"

Teddie placed both hands on his hips and glared at Adachi. "Hey," he said, wagging one finger in Adachi's direction. "That's Mr. Stupid Bear to you, you creep! Anyway, I'm not doing anything here. I'm just walking around, that's all. You know, patrolling. In case there's anything you guys missed the first time you took a look around."

He beamed at Nanako, apparently very impressed with his own initiative. Nanako stifled a giggle.

"Have you been here this whole time?" she asked. "I haven't seen you in a couple of days. I was starting to get worried. I'm glad you're okay."

If possible, Teddie's smile broadened, and he twinkled down at her. "Nana-chan, you're so kind…I knew that I was right to fall for you when I did. You're the sweetest girl I've ever met."

Yu, however, wasn't smiling. "No one is supposed to be in here alone," he reminded Teddie.

Teddie gave Yu his best innocent look. "What? But that doesn't count for me, right? I mean…I live here! Or at least, I used to. This was my home, once. I'm used to this place!"

"That's not the point," insisted Yu.

Chie laid a hand on his arm to forestall him. "We're looking for a big, scabby monster," she informed him. "Really big. Really dangerous looking. Sound familiar?"

"Huh? What? No way! If I'd seen anything like that, I'd have come running straight home!" Teddie looked alarmed. "Is it another shadow?"

"We don't know." Yu shrugged. "Adachi saw it hanging around here about an hour ago. It was carrying a dead body."

"Not carrying," corrected Adachi. "Just…sort of standing with it. Like it was guarding its prey, or something."

Yu ignored him. "We should have a closer look around," he announced. "We'll all stay together; it's safer that way. Teddie, you should come with us. You might your need your persona."

Now it was Teddie's turn to look unhappy, although he did call his persona, who trailed after them as they all, as a sort of hesitant clump, headed up towards the next floor of Magatsu Inaba.

"Teddie," murmured Nanako, hanging at the back of the group with him while Yu, Adachi, and Chie took the lead. "Um…wait, didn't Naoto-san say that everyone who comes in here has to face their 'new shadow,' or something like that?"

"Yup." Teddie nodded. "That does make sense…"

"Then…" Nanako frowned. "Did you have to face your shadow, too?"

"Nope!" Teddie shrugged. "Not me! I can hang around in this world all I want without having to deal with any of that stuff! I guess I'm just special. "Again, he sparkled.

Nanako, however, wasn't quite ready to let that go. _Is it just me, _she wondered, _or does Teddie look a little bit sad? He's trying not to show it, but…his eyes aren't smiling. _"What kind of 'special?'" she asked.

"Actually," mumbled Teddie, chewing thoughtfully on his lip, "I've been wondering about that, a lot…and about other things, too. I think that it has something to do with growing up. See, everyone else has been getting older for the last ten years…even you, Nana-chan! You're all older, and you go to different schools, or work different jobs, and you even know different people! Me, though, I never get older. I'll be a kid forever!" He grinned, and again, Nanako was sure that something wasn't quite right about it. "I'll be the same old Teddie forever and ever, right? And if I never change, there's nothing for me to worry about in the past, because the past's just the same as the present. So…I don't need a shadow. I think that's how it works…"

_That must be nice, _thought Nanako. _It would be wonderful to never have to grow up, I think. _"But…that's not right," she murmured, mostly to herself. "Teddie, I know you've changed. You're different than you were when I met you at first."

"Nah…I don't think so. Maybe it's just because you were little, then…you didn't realize how much of a hot studly bear I actually was!" He waggled his eyebrows at her. "Huh? Is that it? It's okay, don't be shy…"

Having a conversation with Teddie was always something of a trial. Nanako could barely ever get anything serious out of him, and at the moment, she didn't' feel like trying too hard. _Maybe he's right after all, _she decided. _Maybe he really won't ever grow up. _After all, there was something refreshingly innocent about Teddie, even when he was making alarmingly suggestive comments. He was a simple person, in a complicated world. Nanako liked that. She always had.

"Never change, Teddie," she told him, reaching out on a whim and giving him a big hug. "You're fine exactly the way you are right now."

Teddie blinked at her, and flushed a little. "Nana-chan…"

"Hey, cut it out back there." Adachi turned around, scowling. "Enough of this love fest, it's making me nauseous."

"Hmph." Teddie turned up his nose. "You're just jealous. Face it, Adachi-baby. You may have Nanako-chan's attention now, but you'll never be as charming and loveable as Teddie! Not even close. You should probably give up now."

"Tch." Adachi shook his head and turned away again. _I…don't think being jealous has anything to do with it, _thought Nanako. _That was…kind of awkward._

"Charming? Smooth?" a voice that sounded uncannily like a lower, darker version of Teddie's own voice spoke up from somewhere just behind Nanako. "Why are you deluding yourself? She's a grown woman, now. You have nothing that could possibly interest her. She will outgrow you…just like all the others already have."

"H-huh?" Teddie spun around, and so did Nanako. There was a huge blue and red Teddie bear standing there, but it didn't look exactly like Teddie. _It's much scarier, _thought Nanako, alarmed. _It's bigger, and…and sadder. It doesn't look friendly like Teddie does at all. What is that thing?_

"W-what?" stammered Teddie, backing a few steps away from the horrible bear, and bumping smack into Chie. "What are you doing here? Go away! I've already beaten you! I don't need you anymore."

"Nonsense." The horrible, giant shadow Teddie shook its head. "You will always need me. I will always be a part of you. You said it yourself; nothing has changed. No matter what clothes you wear or how you speak, you are still and will always be the same small, insignificant shadow creature that you once were."

Yu, Chie, and Adachi had all turned around now, and everyone was staring back and forth between Teddie and his shadow.

"Oh no…" Yu sighed. "Not now."

"While your friends move on, grow up, and experience new things, you remain the same," continued Teddie's shadow. "Do you think that simply customizing yourself to the needs of the human world will really ever change who you are at your core? You are a shadow. You do not age. You do not learn. You do not die. You simply go on, and on, and on, and soon, your friends will go on without you. They will have no more need of you, and they will forget you, and then you will be alone, back where you started, having gained nothing. Accept your fate and accept the truth. Anything else would be foolishness."

"That's…that's not true," squeaked Teddie, although he didn't sound too certain. "They would never do that to me. My friends…my friends care about me, even if I'm not like them. Even if I…can never be like them. They 'll still want me."

Shadow Teddie shook his head. "You are a toy that has outgrown its value," it intoned. "You are worthless. You are outdated. You are obsolete."

"He's lying, Teddie," said Nanako, grabbing Teddie by both paws and trying to bring him around to look at her. "You're not any of those things. You're our friend. You're our Teddie! We'd be lonely without you. Don't listen to what that thing is saying!" She turned to glare at Shadow Teddie, but the shadow simply stared back at her, implacable and vaguely disappointed.

"Very well, then," it said. "It seems that I will have to show you…the truth."

The shadow began to change. The changes were subtle at first, and before long, Nanako realized that she was now staring into the face of something that looked just like her own beloved Teddie. The shadow had warped, ever so slightly, manipulating its features and form until it looked exactly like Teddie himself. Nanako blinked back and forth between them, trying to reassure herself that she knew which one was which.

"I am all that lies inside you," continued the shadow. "I, and nothing else. No growth, no change, no discovery. Only I…the way I have always been."

"No…" Teddie put both paws out in front of him, as though trying to ward the thing off. "No, I can't believe that. I'm not like you anymore. I'm nothing like you at all! I'm a part of the human world. I'm real! I'm more real than you could ever be! I'm…"

"Teddie, look out!" Chie and Yu pushed past Nanako and placed themselves between Teddie and his shadow, as the shadow again began to grow and change, this time increasing rapidly in size until it loomed horribly over all of their heads. A hole opened up in the ground beneath it, and it's bottom half sank down into that hole, until all that Nanako could see of the distorted Teddie shadow was its head and both arms as they clawed at her from where it lay, apparently trapped.

"It's all right, Teddie," murmured Yu, as Izanagi-no-Okami spun around to face the shadow. "You don't have to listen to what it's saying. We'll take care of this."

"That's right!" agreed Chie. "Let's just finish this and shut that thing up! Right, Nanako-chan?"

Nanako felt herself swell slightly with pride as Chie called on her to join the fight. "Right!" she agreed, gritting her teeth and taking a step forward.

Shadow Teddie shook its head resignedly, reared back, and then shot one claw out as far as it could, slamming it's paw into Chie's leg. Chie reeled back.

**Chapter 73: Chapter Seventy One: Teddiehood**

**Author's Note: **Thank you so very much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and to everyone who gave me such helpful comments and constructive aide when it comes to improving my story. The fact that you care enough to take the time to help me out with this really makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and positive. I mean that absolutely. Thank you so much!

Now let's see if I can spruce this story up for you all a bit…

**Chapter Seventy One: Teddiehood**

"Big Bro!" called Nanako, as Yu stepped forward to begin an attack. "Be careful!" The horrible bear shadow looked really, really strong. Those claws were almost the size of Nanako's entire body. This looked terribly dangerous.

"It's all right," Yu assured her. "We've beaten this one before. We can do it again. It shouldn't be that complicated…"

He didn't honestly sound too certain, and Nanako couldn't blame him. _Everything here is complicated, _she thought.

"Whenever he starts charging up energy for his strongest attack," Yu continued, keeping his eyes on Shadow Teddie, "then you have to guard yourself. Nanako-chan, can you do that?"

"Um…" Nanako wasn't sure. She spent a moment reaching around inside her mind, asking Tatsu-ta-hime silently if that was something that she could handle. After a moment, Nanako nodded. "Yes, I can do that," she said. "But, how will I know when he-!?"

At that moment, as Chie made a lunge for Shadow Teddie's face, he suddenly reared up, stretched one arm into the air, and began collecting what looked like a ball of lightning in one of his fists.

"Now, Nanako!" Yu swung into a crouch, his persona standing stoically in front of him.

"Um…" Nanako did her best to hunker down, and Tatsu-ta-hime took her position in front, but then something else moved at Nanako's side, and suddenly Adachi was standing in front of her, shielding both her and her persona from whatever havoc Shadow Teddie was about to wreak.

"Adachi-san!" Nanako was startled. "No, get out of the way! You don't have to!"

"Shut up," muttered Adachi, gritting his teeth. "I hate owing people favors. You already got hurt once trying to be all noble and shit on my account. Let's not rack up the debt, okay?"

Adachi, too, moved into a crouch, and then Shadow Teddie released his ball of energy. He swung it forward, smacking it hard into each of them in turn, and Nanako saw Chie's face and then Yu's contort in pain as the energy connected with their bodies.

_No, _she thought. _No, something's not right…Big Bro! Chie-san! _They were doubled over, now, apparently winded.

"Adachi-san!" cried Nanako, as the ball of energy hurtled towards him.

"Yeah," he snarled, "I know."

There wasn't time to say anything else. The ball of energy bowled him over in a second, and he thudded hard to the ground, groaning. Shadow Teddie, apparently satisfied for the moment with the destruction he'd caused, settled back into his hole. Chie was already back on her feet, sweating but stable, and she was reaching down to help Yu to recover. Nanako took the opportunity to rush to Adachi's side.

"Ouch," mumbled Adachi. "Fuck."

"You shouldn't have done that!" Nanako grabbed one of his hands in both of hers, and began hauling him upright again. "Are you hurt? Is it bad?"

"Yeah, it's bad." For some reason, Adachi hi was smiling. "Nngh. So. I guess we're even, now."

_I don't want to be "even!" _thought Nanako angrily. _I don't want anyone to get hurt protecting me! I should have to protect myself, just like everyone else. No one else should have to suffer so that I can stay out of the way! That's not right, that's not how this is supposed to work! I'm here to help people, and to protect them, not the other way around! That's why I have this power!_

"That shouldn't have happened," muttered Yu, shaking his head. "The attack shouldn't have connected. He's not behaving the same way he did when we beat him the first time. I was afraid something like this would happen…"

"You were? Tch, could have fooled me." Adachi rolled his eyes, and muttered sarcastically, "I thought you had this all under control…"

"So?" panted Chie. "What do we do, now?" She managed to duck just in time as Shadow Teddie made a swipe at her with one paw.

Yu was frowning. "I…honestly don't know," he admitted. "We'll have to treat this like any other battle, after all. We have to start from scratch."

"Okay." Chie nodded. "Well, we know that he's an ice element, right? I mean, he always used Bufula, before! I remember, because that's the same magic that I can use! So, I should be fine!"

Something on the edge of Nanako's mind twinged uncomfortably, and she got the distinct impression that Tatsu-ta-hime wasn't happy. _No, _she decided. _That's not right. He's not an ice elemental, no matter what he was before. Now, he's…_ she spent a few minutes thinking very, very hard.

"Hey, pay attention!" Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto swerved in and deflected one of Shadow Teddie's swipes. Adachi scowled. "Come on, this isn't the time to zone out!"

Nanako, however, was doing nothing of the sort. "He's going to use wind," she informed the others. "But, you can use ice on him."

"Wind?" Chie frowned. "Aw, man…I guess that means I'm out of luck, huh?"

"If we don't finish him quickly," retorted Yu," then we're all in trouble. We can't avoid his attacks anymore, and there's no doubt that he's very strong. We need to end this, before he gets the upper hand."

"He's got it already!" shouted Adachi, as Shadow Teddie began gathering energy in one paw again. "Goddamnit!"

_Oh, no! _Nanako was trying not to panic. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Yu and Chie each began throwing their best and strongest, most powerful magical attacks at Shadow Teddie, apparently in hopes of sapping his power or throwing off his aim while he built up and prepared for his assault. Nothing, however, seemed to be having the desired effect. The attacks were damaging him, yes, but they weren't damaging him enough or acting quickly enough to stop him from gathering energy. Very soon, he would hit each of them again with that devastating blow, and Nanako was terrified that this time, someone would get seriously hurt.

_Oh no, _she thought, trying desperately not to panic. _We have to think of something. There has to be something that we can do. It can't all end here, that's not…that can't be right!_

"Adachi!" shouted Yu suddenly, dropping into a crouch. "Use your persona!"

"Huh?" Adachi stared. "I am using her…what does it look like I'm doing?"

"No!" Yu shook his head impatiently. "Let her go! We need a distraction!"

For a moment, it didn't look as though Adachi understood. Then, slowly, a startled, twisted sort of grin came over his face. "You sure about that?" he asked.

"Come on, please!" Chie, too, was starting to sound frantic.

Adachi shrugged. "Yeah, okay. Why not? Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto, do that thing where you go nuts!"

Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto let out a burst of cackling laughter, then darted away from Adachi and straight at Shadow Teddie. She grabbed on to Shadow Teddie's upraised arm, planted both her feet on his neck, and sank her teeth into his wrist, tearing at it with eyes wide open. Shadow Teddie, who had, until that moment, remained implacably focused first on Yu and then on Chie, suddenly jerked his arm away , throwing Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto to the ground. She was up again in a moment, however, and this time began using both hands to wrench mercilessly at one of Shadow Teddie's hears. He roared in pain and anger.

"Now!" shouted Yu. He, Chie, and Adachi all threw themselves on Shadow Teddie, slashing and beating at him with all of their physical strength. It didn't take Shadow Teddie long to fend them off again, although now he looked significantly less certain as he again raised an arm to prepare for his strongest attack.

The rest of the battle continued on in much the same fashion. Every time that Shadow Teddie prepared for an assault, Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto would let loose, and he'd be too busy defending himself from her crazed violence to be able to fully charge. Yu slammed him with repeated uses of Megidolaon, while Chie's persona bombarded him with continued physical onslaught. Before long, Shadow Teddie let out one final, anguished roar, and sunk slowly back down until he was just barely visible above his hole in the ground.

Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto was still beating savagely on Shadow Teddie's head as he lay there, motionless. "Adachi-san," called Nanako. "Bring her back!"

Adachi sighed. "Yeah, see, that's easier said than done. I mean…you're the ones who told me let her go wild, right? Now we all have to live with it."

"That's ridiculous," insisted Yu sternly. "She's your persona. You need to be in control. Now, call her back. Quickly. Before she-!"

The words were barely out of his mouth when Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto apparently lost interest in the defeated shell of Shadow Teddie, and turned her attention back to Yu and his party. She gave them each the briefest of glances, and then narrowed her eyes at Nanako, grinning and clenching both of her fists as she suddenly careened forward in Nanako's direction, teeth bared. Nanako shrieked and dived behind Tatsu-ta-hime, who radiated alarm and uncertainty.

"Nanako-chan!" cried Chie.

Adachi's eyes widened in shock. "What the shit? Hey! Come on! That's enough!" He flung an arm out in front of Nanako, his eyes blazing as he bellowed out his command. Nanako had never heard him sound anything like that, before. There was panic in his voice, but not only that. There was something authoritative and decisive, too, that she wouldn't have expected from him.

Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto looked genuinely startled. Then, with a little squeal of protest, she dissolved back into Adachi's soul. He glared for a second at the spot where she'd just been, and then, suddenly starting to shake, clutched at his stomach and doubled over. "Aw, mgph, crap…!"

"Adachi-san…" Nanako approached hesitantly, waiting for him to finish being sick all over the TV world floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Teddie slowly shaking himself out of the stupor he'd fallen into during the shadow battle, and advancing on his now apparently crippled shadow.

"You see?" he said, although his voice wavered a little. "You're…you were wrong. I am growing. I'm…I've grown a lot since I met Sensei, and all my friends. I'm still growing. I'm still young, after all! There's lots of wrong for me to change, still. You've changed, too! You're different, now. We both are!"

"I…don't want to be forgotten," mumbled the shadow. "I don't want to be left behind. When I am no longer of use to them, then I'll…"

"Then I'll learn how to do something new!" Teddie was adamant. The color was starting to return to his face as he spoke, and again he planted both hands on his hips and nodded at Shadow Teddie. "I never want to let anybody down. I always want to be able to help. If there's something that Sensei needs, and I don't know how to do it, then I'll practice until I learn, just the way I learned how to fight after I first found out that I even had a persona! You just wait. Together, you and I are going to be the very best Teddie that ever was, forever, no matter what that means! It's going to be great! We're going to be unbeatable! Unforgettable, even!" He beamed at his shadow, and then at Yu, Chie, and Nanako. They all smiled back.

"That's right, Teddie," agreed Nanako. "You'll always be one of us."

"We could never grow out of you," added Chie. "You're a part of who we are, as a team! You're a part of what makes us 'us'! How could we want to forget about that?"

"And you're learning more about our world every day." Yu nodded. "You're learning how to adapt, how to make an identity for yourself. That's all a part of growing up, I think."

_That's right, _decided Nanako. _That's…that's what growing up is all about, unfortunately. I've never been great at 'adapting,' like Big Bro says…_

Shadow Teddie began to glow. Teddie's persona emerged from inside him, and as the two stared at each other, they both dissolved into pools of light. Before too long, the persona re-appeared, this time taking the form of a short, squat, fat man with a face wreathed in smiles. One of his legs looked slightly crooked, and one of his ears was slightly larger than the other, and he danced back and forth from one foot to another, radiating confidence and joy.

_Teddie has faced and forgiven the past_, intoned the infamous disembodied voice. _He has obtained the façade used to face the unforeseeable future; the persona Ebisu._

_"Wow," whispered Teddie. "A new power…a new part of me. The brand new Teddie!"_

_Quietly, Ebisu vanished again, as did the rest of the personas, leaving the surroundings suddenly feeling much emptier than they had the moment before._

_"I'm so proud of you, Teddie," murmured Nanako. "That was really frightening. You were really brave."_

_Teddie grinned. "Do you think so? Really?" He looked genuinely pleased. "Well, hey, I guess that's all part of the new and improved 'Teddie 2.0!'"_

_He continued to preen as Nanako turned her attention back to Adachi, who seemed to have finally stopped throwing up. He was hunched over on the ground, his face twisted and pale. Nanako noticed that his shoulder was bleeding, presumably from one of Shadow Teddie's paw swipes. "Are you…feeling better?" she asked._

_Adachi didn't look at her. "I don't know," he muttered. "Uh. Maybe." Struggling back on to his feet, he turned around and headed off towards the entrance to Magatsu Inaba. "Anyway…I've had enough for one day. I'm out."_

_Nanako blinked in surprise. "But, Adachi-san, wait! You're injured, and I haven't had a chance to thank you, yet! You-!"_

_"Heeey, Nanako-chan." Teddie put a hand on her shoulder, and she spun back around to find that he'd taken off his bear suit and was again in human form._

_"Teddie, I'm sorry," began Nanako. "I'll be right back. I just-!"_

_"So…what do you think?" he asked, apparently paying her no attention at all. "Teddie 2.0, right? Pretty manly?"_

_Nanako tried not to get exasperated. "Of course you are," she reassured him hastily. "I just told you how brave you were, didn't I? But I really need a minute. Can we talk about this later?"_

_"So, I was just wondering," continued Teddie. "I mean…it has to be fate. You were here to see my bravest moment! You were here to watch me grow into Teddie manhood! I mean, into Teddiehood! So…you want to go on a date, sometime?"_

_Nanako rolled her eyes. "Teddie, not now!"_

_Again, she tried to break away from him, but unexpectedly, he deflated as soon as she had taken the first step. "So…that's a no, then?" he asked, sounded genuinely disappointed. In fact, he sounded more disappointed than he had any of the other times that he'd asked Nanako, or Chie, or Yukiko, or Rise out on a date. Something about it alarmed Nanako. For the first time since Adachi had left, Nanako gave Teddie her full attention._

_"Wait," she asked hesitantly. "Are you…serious?"_

_Teddie nodded vigorously, and then, ever so slightly, he blushed. "Well, yeah, of course! I mean. I feel like his is my chance! My chance for romance, I mean! If I don't ask you now, I might never be able to get up the courage against! This is my proudest moment…I want someone to share it with!" He twinkled innocently at her, glowing with youth and hope. Nanako was stunned._

_She wasn't certain what to say. Teddie looked so earnest, so sincere, and now Yu and Chie were both staring at them, apparently as weirded out as Nanako was by the entire exchange._

_This…isn't happening, right? she asked herself. I mean…this is Teddie we're talking about. He's not…I mean, he isn't even…_

_Teddie continued to plead with his eyes, making Nanako more and more uncomfortable by the moment._

**Chapter 74: Chapter Seventy Two: What Is Love**

**Author's Note: **Aaaaaand we're back! Huzzah! I'm so excited!

I did just notice something, however. When I went back to look over the previous chapter, I discovered that half of it is mysteriously in italics. I'll have to go back and correct that as soon as I post this. Odd…I could have sworn I'd posted it properly. Oh well.

Thank you so much for your patience!

**Chapter Seventy Two: What Is Love**

Nanako barely got any sleep that night. By the time she got back into bed, hours had gone by, and she still had to get up early for school the next morning. Even if she'd had the time, though, she wouldn't have slept. There was far too much on her mind, and most of it had something to do with Teddie.

_He was really serious, wasn't he? _she asked herself on the way down the stairs to breakfast. _I don't…know much about boyfriends. Maybe he was only joking and I just didn't get it. That could happen…right? Yeah!_

Nanako, of course, had never been asked out by a boy before. None of the boys at school ever paid much attention to her, except occasionally to make a few cracks about how much fun it might be to get 'daddy's little girl' to do one thing or another. At first, that had honestly sort of scared her, but after a while she'd realized that it was just teasing. Maybe it was a weird, unnerving kind of teasing, but it wasn't like they were actually going to do anything. After all, no one knew better than Nanako that she wasn't very interesting to boys, and wasn't shaped much like a grown woman. She didn't look anything like the pretty, popular girls who went on dates with different guys every weekend.

This was, therefore, a completely new experience for her, and the strangest part of all was that she couldn't figure out if she was enjoying it or not. At the moment, she was leaning towards not enjoying it at all.

_Most girls would probably be really excited, _she thought. _But I'm not excited…am I? I just feel sort of sick, like I had too much bad sushi. My stomach keeps doing little flips…I don't feel good._

Dad was already in the kitchen making coffee when Nanako sat down at the table.

"Morning," he mumbled.

"Good morning," muttered Nanako, unenthusiastically. Dad glanced over at her in some surprise.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, moving over to join her at the table. "You don't look so good. Are you sick? You shouldn't study too hard. God grades aren't worth anything if you make yourself sick, Nanako."

On any other morning, Nanako knew that she'd probably have been gratified to hear that, especially coming from the man who was usually so insistent on her academic success. "No, its okay," she insisted, shaking her head. "I'm fine."

Dad didn't seem to have a counter argument, so they sat together at the table in silence for a moment while Nanako picked at some toast that Dad had apparently made while she was still asleep.

_I could ask him, _thought Nanako. _After all, he always gives advice…even when I don't want advice. Maybe he'll know what I'm supposed to do, here. He loves mom, so…he has to have dated her for a while. He has to know something about girls. I think._

Honestly, Nanako wasn't too certain, but she swallowed her mouthful and took a deep breath anyway.

"Dad?" she asked.

"Mmm?" mumbled Dojima around his breakfast.

"How do you know if you like someone or not?"

Dad choked. It took him a second to clear his throat again, and when he finally did, he stared up at Nanako, red-faced and startled. "What?" he demanded.

"I asked," repeated Nanako, determined not to back down at this stage, "how do you know if you like someone or not?"

"How you…if you like someone. Huh." Dad frowned. "I guess…if you enjoy being around them. You know, if they make you feel good. Like your Big Bro. You like him, right? You've always been pretty excited to have him around, ever since you were a little kid."

"No…not like that." Nanako shook her head. "I mean…yeah, I like Big Bro, but…that's not what I mean. How do you know if you really _like_ someone?" She took care to place extra emphasis on the word "like." "Like, the way you like Mom."

Suddenly, Dad was giving Nanako a very different, much more suspicious look. "What, did you meet a boy or something?" he asked. "Who is he, somebody at school? Anybody I know? It's not that Shidou kid, is it? That boy's no good, Nanako. I've caught him out after curfew so many times…his parents can't do anything with him. Take it from me, Nanako, you're better off leaving that guy alone….and he'd better leave you alone, or he'll be answering to me before he knows it." Dad narrowed his eyes. "You can count on that, got it? He's bad news, and you're not gonna have anything to do with him."

Nanako sighed. She knew the boy Dad was talking about. They had English class together, and she'd heard rumors about some of the pranks that he liked to pull around the shopping district, and at Junes. He had a mean smile and he dressed up every day, as though he wanted to prove how much better he could look than the other kids. He wasn't Nanako's type at all. She knew for a fact that she didn't like him.

"No, it's…never mind." She shook her head quickly. "It's not like that. It's nothing."

Despite Nanako's best efforts, however, Dad continued to glare at her over his coffee for the entire rest of the meal.

**Meanwhile, at Junes…**

"Yosuke, help!" Teddie scurried around behind Yosuke, cowering and trying to make himself smaller as Yu descended upon them both, fists clenched.

"Huh? Wha-? Oh, yeah, well." Yosuke shrugged, and stepped hastily out of Yu's way. "Look, man, it's not like I'm not sympathetic, or anything, but you totally did this to yourself. I mean…hitting on a guy's sister like that? Not cool…definitely not cool. There are lines."

"B-but…it's not like that!" squeaked Teddie. "I wasn't hitting on Nanako-chan…I was asking her out! I want to make an honest woman out of her!"

"That's…definitely not what you meant to say there," muttered Yosuke, wincing. "Come on, partner, let's not do anything we're gonna regret. Not that I'm saying either of us would necessarily regret his, but still…"

Yu took a deep breath. "Teddie, I'm not going to hurt you," he muttered. "Come here I just want to talk to you, that's all."

"Sensei," breathed Teddie, stepping hesitantly forward. "I knew that you were a kind person…you have a big heart! Almost as big as mine." The words came out as more of a plea than an affirmation.

Yu forced a smile. He'd been quite legitimately surprised by just how much he'd wanted to punch Teddie in the face the moment Teddie had asked Nanako out. He considered Teddie, for all of his antics, to be one of his best and firmest friends, and yet Yosuke had a point. Some things were sacred, and Nanako was definitely one of them. None of the others would have dared. Then, the idea of Yosuke or Kanji asking Nanako out flashed uncomfortably across Yu's mind, and he hastily forced himself to think about something else.

"Um," muttered Yu, while Teddie watched him expectantly. "I…just want to know. When you said those things to Nanako…was it like when she was a little girl, and you used to ask her to 'launch fireworks of love' with you, and strange things like that?"

"What? No, no way!" Teddie shook his head vigorously. "That was a long time ago! I was bearly the same Teddie then that I am today! Now I'm serious! I'm serious about being a real person! I want to live a real person's life, and…and I want to go on real dates, like a real person would! I want Nanako to be my first real-life girlfriend!"

"And so you're using Nanako to try and make you feel more 'real?'" Yu shot the question at Teddie before he'd even realized what he was saying. "Is that what this is?"

Teddie's eyes went wide. "No! No, no, no, no! I would never do something like that! This is little old me we're talking about, remember? Teddie? The loyal bear with a heart of gold?"

Yu opened his mouth again, and Yosuke placed a restraining hand on his shoulder. "Dude," said Yosuke. "Face it. She's a teenager. She's, uh…seventeen, right? So, this kind of thing is going to happen. It's…probably going to start happening a lot. There's nothing wrong with her. I mean…she's cute, in a 'my best friend's little sister' kind of way, you know?"

"I think she's cute in a 'Nanako's really hot now that she's older' kind of way!" volunteered Teddie helpfully. Both Yu and Yosuke glared at him.

"Ted…you know, you're really asking for it," began Yosuke. "Nobody can't say I didn't try to help."

Before he had a chance to say anything else, however, the door opened, and Nanako came walking in. "Big Bro?" she called. "Are you-? Oh!" Seeing Teddie, she paused, frowned, bit her lip, and then shook her head. "N-nevermind! I'll see you later!"

Nanako turned on her heel and rushed back out of the store.

"Now look what you've done," muttered Yosuke. "You've totally freaked her out…"

"B-but, what did I do?" insisted Teddie innocently. "I only made my true feelings known…I thought girls were supposed to like that sort of thing! Girls like sensitive guys, right Yosuke? I read about it one of your magazines!"

Yu ignored both of them. Pushing the door open, he followed Nanako out into the food court.

She was sitting in one of the plastic chairs, kicking her feet and staring at the tabletop contemplatively. Yu pulled up a chair across from her.

"You okay?" he asked. "You've been working hard lately. I remember what that's like. You shouldn't overdo it."

"I'm fine," mumbled Nanako. "I'm not even tired. It's not that…"

Yu had a feeling that he knew exactly what "it" was. Instead of volunteering that, however, he waited a few moments until Nanako let out a long sigh, and looked up into his eyes again.

"Big Bro?" she asked. "How do you know if you like someone?"

Yu nodded. He'd been expecting something like that. "I don't know," he told her, quite honestly. "It's…well, it's not really something I can explain, Nanako. When you care about someone, everything changes. The world looks different. It feels different. Your whole life is different."

"Is that how you feel about Chie-san?" persisted Nanako.

Yu nodded. "Very much so," he told her. "And," he added, reaching out to tousle her hair, Iits how I feel about you, too."

Nanako pursed her lips. "But…you're my brother. You don't like me like..well, not the way that I'm talking about."

Yu shrugged. "Love is love," he said. "There are lots of different ways to love someone, but in the end, they all shake up your world. I want to spend the rest of my life with Chie…and I want you to be a part of the rest of my life as well. True, I look at you both in very different ways. Chie is my wife, and you're an important part of my family. In the end, I wouldn't want to live without either of you. Does that make sense?"

Nanako was still frowning. "Um…well…sort of? But…it doesn't really help."

**Not long afterwards, in the Velvet Room…**

"Ah…welcome to the Velvet Room," intoned Igor, as Nanako dragged herself through the door in the shopping district.

"'Lo," she mumbled, wandering over to Adachi's chair and slumping down into a sitting position on the floor next to him.

Adachi raised an eyebrow at her. "What's wrong with you?" he asked. "You look pretty bad."

"I don't feel so good," agreed Nanako.

Adachi looked mildly alarmed. "Well…crap. Hey, you didn't get hurt or something yesterday, did you? You should have that Big Bro of yours take a look. He can use all kinds of fancy healing spells, and…whoa, you're actually really pale. Are you eating? Even girls are supposed to eat sometimes, right?"

Nanako felt herself finally starting to smile, while she listened to Adachi starting to freak out just a little. She liked him best when he sounded like a real human being, and something about that panicky note that crept into his voice was very, very human. Then, she felt a little guilty for liking it. _It's not very nice to enjoy it when someone's scared, _she told herself.

"Adachi-san," she asked. "How do you know if you like someone?"

Adachi stared at her. "What the…what the hell kind of a question is that to be asking me?" He laughed an uncomfortable little laugh. "Seriously? I mean…what are you, desperate or something?"

"Yes," admitted Nanako with a sigh. "I am."

"Uh…yeah, guess so." Adachi ran a hand through his hair, and shook his head. "Shouldn't you be asking your Dad or your cousin, or…?"

"I'm asking you," interrupted Nanako.

Adachi sighed. "Yeah, right, sure, I can see that." He had to think about it for a few minutes, and Nanako watched as he slowly began to look more and more uncertain as time passed. "Uh…well, honestly, if you want my opinion, liking people is nothing more than a huge pain in the ass. I mean…it makes you nervous, makes you miserable…and then you start doing stuff that you wouldn't do, and know you shouldn't do, except you do it anyway, for some stupid reason that makes no sense and never will. Actually, liking people turns you into a useless sack of dumbass. So, if you're asking me, I'd stay the hell away from it. Okay? That enough for you?"

Adachi's face had turned slightly red, not with embarrassment, but with what looked to Nanako like genuine irritation.

"Big Bro says that love changes your life," she informed him.

"Tch," Adachi rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, that's one way of putting it, I guess. Can't argue with him there…"

For some reason, Nanako found herself feeling a little bit better.

"Adachi-san," she said. "Teddie asked me out."

"Hah!" Adachi snorted out a derisive laugh. "Really? Whoa…that sucks."

"Yes," agreed Nanako. "I think so too…"

**Chapter 75: Chapter Seventy Three: Understanding**

**Author's Note: **Well, same old, same old. I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, but this is the best draft I've written of it so far, so this is what we'll stick with for the time being. There is TONS of action an excitement on the horizon as we move closer and closer to the endgame, here. I'm…really enthusiastic about the way this one is going to end.

**Chapter Seventy Three: Understanding**

When Dojima looked up at the wall clock in the station, and saw that it was already one o'clock in the afternoon, he was not happy. The chief still hadn't arrived.

This wasn't, he had to admit to himself, the first time that the chief had been late. Occasionally Taiga even stopped off on the way to pick up snacks for the team, or got stuck dealing with paperwork that he didn't want to have to try and get done in the midst of the busy, noisy station.

Takahashi, Naoto, and Chie were huddled around their tiny desk, discussing the plausibility of one of the Adachi-sightings that they'd received by phone that morning. Just across from them, Yanase was hanging a new colored drawing up on the side of her own desk. It had stick figure depictions of a man and a woman in bright blue police uniforms, smiling huge, toothless red smiles. Dojima guessed that it had probably been a gift from Togoshi's fabled little boy.

_In fact, _he tried to assure himself, _everything is completely normal. It's so normal it hurts. Nothing's happening. It's like we never make any real progress on this damn case._

And yet, of course, despite all of that, Dojima wasn't happy. Something just didn't feel right. _Detective's instinct, _he thought.

"Hey," he asked, interrupting the conversation taking place around his desk. "Have any of you heard from the chief today?"

"Huh? Uh, no." Chie shook her head. "Sorry. Why?"

"Is something the matter?" asked Naoto, always the perceptive one. _It's probably written all over my face, _thought Dojima. She watched him for a moment, and then frowned. "What is it, Dojima-san?"

Dojima didn't have a good answer to that. He couldn't quite bring himself to say, especially in the face of Naoto's calm, rational scrutiny, that he was worried about Chief Taiga's mental health. That wasn't something he had a lot of experience dealing with, and he knew that he'd sound like some kind of worried old wife if he brought it up.

_It's no joke, losing a member of your team, _he thought. _He's taking it hard. I'm not crazy, even if he's putting a good face on for the rest of the force. He's feeling guilty. I know what that's like. I know. I might be the only one here who really gets that._

"I'm taking my lunch break," he announced, standing up. Chie, Naoto, and Takahashi all stared at him as though he had just sprouted three extra heads.

"You never take a lunch break," Chie reminded him.

"It…is rare," agreed Naoto.

Takahashi didn't say anything. He was too busy typing away on his computer to take any notice of his partner.

Dojima left the station and headed for his car. He drove through the shopping district until he eventually reached the place where he knew his chief lived. He'd never been in there before, socially or otherwise, and so for a moment he stood uncomfortably by the curb, leaning against his car ad trying to figure out if he was really acting as stupidly as he felt.

_Might as well, _he decided. _Otherwise what's the point of my coming all this way?_

"Uh, hello?" he called, knocking three times against the door. "Chief? Uh..it's Ryotaro Dojima."

No one answered. Dojima wasn't honestly surprised. _He's probably on his way to the station right now. Either that or he's home with a cold, and doesn't want to bother with rude co-workers over-stepping professional boundaries. Can't say I blame him if that's the case. I probably wouldn't let me in either…_

"Taiga-san." Again, Dojima knocked hard at the door, and this time, the door shifted a bit, and creaked open an inch or two. Dojima stared at it, surprised, then pushed it the rest of the way open before he'd had a chance to check himself, and stepped inside.

The house was dark. As far as Dojima could tell, no one was home. There were a few unwashed plates in the kitchen sink, and one solitary glass resting on the countertop, but otherwise there were no signs of life at all.

"Taiga-san?" called Dojima, stepping through the kitchen and into the living room. There was a large brown couch in the center of the room, with a comparatively tiny TV set sitting in front of it. Something was huddled up on the couch, and Dojima found that he knew what that something was before he even got close enough to see it.

"Goddamnit," he snarled, staring down at the lifeless body of the Inaba police chief. There was an empty glass lying on its side on the couch beside him, and a bottle of pills open on the floor, with its little white contents spilling everywhere.

_Too damn late, _he realized, clenching his fists and feeling that sick lump settling down into his gut.

**Some time later, at the Junes food court…**

Nanako was thinking hard.

_Should I, or shouldn't I? _she asked herself, for what must have been the one hundredth time. She'd had that same question running through her head since she'd woken up that morning, and none of the advice she'd received from the others had done much in the way of helping her sort out any answers. Teddie, she knew, was probably working in the produce department right now. The idea of going in to see or talk to him was nerve-wracking enough, but she knew that she couldn't avoid him forever. Avoiding Teddie, after all, would mean avoiding everyone else, too, and that wouldn't be any fun. It wasn't even an option, really, considering that she had a job to do, and shadows to fight, and things like that.

"Nanako-chan?" Someone sat down in the chair across from Nanako, and Nanako turned around to find Suzume peering at her with a slight, curious frown on her face. She was wearing a dress in three different shades of pink today, instead of her usual faded blue. Somehow, though, even the pink managed to look drab on Suzume. _And it's my favorite color, too, _reflected Nanako.

"I'm sorry. You look like you're lost in thought.," murmured Suzume. "Should I leave you alone? I'd hate to be intrusive…"

Nanako shook her head quickly. "No, no, it's okay," she assured the other woman, frankly glad of the distraction. "Um…hello, Suzume-san. Are you on your lunch break?"

Suzume nodded. "Yes. I've been feeling a little light-headed, and I forgot to bring my lunch to work, so I thought I'd buy something. Sometimes, I forget…" She gave Nanako a weak little apologetic smile. "But, you look sad. Is something wrong?"

"Boys," muttered Nanako.

Suzume nodded gravely. "Ah. I see. Yes." She gave the tabletop a vague sort of contemplative look. "Men…are disappointing, aren't they?"

"Um…are they?" Nanako wasn't sure if they were or weren't. She'd never been intimately involved with any boy or man, unless she counted her Dad and Yu. Dad, of course, could be his fair share of disappointing, but somehow Nanako didn't get the sense that Suzume was talking about that sort of thing.

"Yes," insisted Suzume. "Yes, I'm afraid so."

"Have you…had a lot of boyfriends?" Nanako knew that wasn't a very nice question to ask. It wasn't even close to being an appropriate question, and yet suddenly and unexpectedly she found herself faced with a woman who had no connection whatsoever to Teddie and his friends. She couldn't help herself. This might be her only opportunity to get a straight answer out of another girl. "Is it nice?"

"Yes," murmured Suzume. "For a little while, yes. But then.." She trailed off, shaking her head.

"But then they get disappointing?" suggested Nanako.

"Yes. Exactly." Suzume smiled understandingly at Nanako, although Nanako wasn't sure she came even close to understanding what they were actually talking about. "You know what that's like, I see."

"Uh." Nanako had to think hard about that. "I…"

"And it's very sad, when you're disappointed," Suzume went on, now apparently lost in her own recollections of boyfriends past. "It's worse, I think, than having never had anything to expect. We expect too much from them…and from each other. That's wrong. It's wrong to expect. It's unfair to other people, and to yourself. Once you've hoped for something, it's harder to give it up than to never have hoped at all."

This was all too much for Nanako. It didn't sound right at all. It sounded so gloomy that it might have come from one of the sad, miserable bits of poetry that her English teacher sometimes made them read and translate as examples of "profound foreign language pieces."

"No," she began, "that isn't-!"

Suzume stood up quickly from the chair, cutting Nanako off. "I'm sorry," she murmured, looking suddenly flustered. "I'm so sorry, Nanako-chan…I have to go. I forgot, I…well, I need to get back. Excuse me, please."

With that, Suzume gave Nanako a quick little half-hearted smile, then hurried off out of the food court and across the street. Nanako, completely perplexed, watch her turn the corner.

"Um," she murmured.

A woman strode across Nanako's vision, heading for the Junes store entrance. Nanako recognized the same glasses and the same pretty blue suit that she saw so often on the television in the mornings when she was waiting for Dad to come downstairs for breakfast.

_Mariko Kusumi? _She wondered. _Wow…I didn't know she shopped at Junes! I have to tell Big Bro and Yosuke…I wonder if they've seen her here before!_

**Meanwhile, at Marukyu…**

Rise was standing in the kitchen when Yu pushed open the door of the tofu shop.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

It took a moment before Rise turned around. She was paler than usual, but she nodded, untying her apron and leaving it hanging over the back of a chair as she moved to join him.

"I'm ready," she said. "I'm…as ready as I'll ever be, at least."

They left the shop together and started down the sidewalk in the direction of Junes. Rise was pensive, hands clasping and unclasping nervously behind her back, her eyes fixed on the pavement. Yu didn't see her like this very often. This wasn't Risette, the teen idol-turned-superstar who had captured the hearts of millions. This was Rise Kujikawa, the self-conscious local girl that only he and a few of his close friends had been privileged enough to really get to know.

"It doesn't help," murmured Rise.

Yu raised an eyebrow. "What doesn't?"

"I mean…knowing what's going to happen, and who I'm going to see. It doesn't help. It doesn't make it any easier. If anything…I think maybe it makes it scarier."

Yu didn't say anything, waiting for Rise to finish.

"Now that I know it's gonna be Inoue-san…I've got all these ideas in my head of what he's going to say, and how he's going to look. I keep thinking about it, over and over. I keep worrying about it, and imagining it, and…I can't relax. I think maybe it would have been easier if I'd been surprised. Maybe then I wouldn't be able to panic as much, you know?"

"I know," agreed Yu. He really did. He'd spent a lot of time recently thinking about the fuzzy images he'd seen on the screen that night, and about the people he was starting to realize he'd soon have to face when it was his turn inside the TV world. He understood perfectly, but he didn't say so. It wasn't the right time to try and talk about himself.

"Yeah. I bet you do." Rise smiled, a little abashed, and then shook her head vigorously. "Anyway, no use talking about that now! If we're going to do this, then let's just…let's get it over with. And…I'm glad you're going with me, senpai. I think...I think you're the one person I' really want to have with me, for this."

She beamed at him, and Yu stifled a laugh. Once upon a time, that flirty look in her eyes would have unnerved him, since he'd frankly never been able to reciprocate any feelings she had for him. Now, though, he knew that it was just Rise's way. Dazzling smiles and come-hither looks were part of her shield. She used it when she was feeling the most vulnerable. She used to it protect herself…and to protect other people, too.

"I'm right here," he assured her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. Rise nodded.

"Right!" she pumped one fist enthusiastically into the air. "Then…let's go get the others!"

**Chapter 76: Chapter Seventy Four: Running Away**

**Chapter Seventy Three: Running Away**

By the time the ambulance arrived, Dojima, Chie, Naoto, and Takahashi were all standing on the curb outside Chief Taiga's home. They watched in stunned silence while two men carried the body out of the house on a stretcher.

"Oh my god," whispered Chie, her hand to her mouth. "But…I don't understand. Why would he-?"

Naoto shook her head sharply, and Chie turned to stare at her. Their eyes met, and Chie's mouth fell open. Then she closed it abruptly, and nodded. "I…I get it," she whispered. "Another death…oh man. I was so sure we were making progress, and now this…"

Dojima was about to ask what she was talking about, when he another car pulled up to the curb, and Togoshi and Yanase piled out in a hurry.

"What the hell is going on?" demanded Togoshi.

"No…" Eyes wide, Yanase watched as the stretcher disappeared into the back of the ambulance.

"Yeah," muttered Dojima. "I'm afraid so."

_I knew, _he kept telling himself bitterly, frustrated and disappointed at his own bad timing. _I knew the guy was too close to the edge, and I did nothing. I could have stopped this; it's my goddamn job. I'm supposed to save lives!_

"Poor guy," grunted Togoshi. "It got to be too much for him, huh? I guess he took the easy road out. That's really too bad."

"Yeah," agreed Dojima, half-heartedly.

Togoshi frowned. "It's weird, though…I mean, I never would have guessed, after last night. He seemed like he was in pretty good shape then, right? Didn't look like he was getting ready to do something drastic. At least…hey, Cho. What's eating you?"

Yanase was biting down on her lip, hard, and staring fixedly at Dojima's shoes. "It's nothing," she murmured, sucking in a quick breath and letting it out again in a rush. "It's…no, it's nothing. I'm sorry."

"Dojima-san," murmured Naoto. "With all due respect, there is very little good that we can do here at the present time. It seems inadvisable for all of us to be absent from the station at once. Perhaps Officer Narukami and I…"

Dojima waved a hand dismissively at her. "Yeah," he agreed. "Sure, you're right. Go on. I'll meet up with you later."

Naoto looked as though she wanted to say something else, but apparently thought better of it. With a little nod, she turned, took Chie by the arm, and headed back towards the car. Takahashi followed behind them. Moments later, the ambulance drove away, leaving Dojima, Togoshi, and Yanase alone, staring at space where it had been.

"So…" murmured Yanase, into the laden silence. "What do we do now?"

"Huh." Togoshi shook his head. "Uh, dunno. I guess we…uh, wait for instructions from the prefectural police."

"No." Dojima was surprised by firmness of his own voice. "No, we keep working on the investigation. Eventually they'll send somebody to take over for Taiga. In the meantime, we have to keep working along the same lines we've been following. That's what we do. That's what we're here for. Anything else would be a waste, and that'd be a shame to his memory."

"Oh, you think so? Sure, I'm not against it." Unexpectedly, Togoshi gave Dojima a wry sort of smile. "In that case, though, there's something you and I have to figure out. Which one of us technically has seniority? I mean…I'm pretty sure I'm older, although you've been in Inaba longer. You wanna fight for it?"

"Juro." Yanase gave him a warning look, but he waved her away.

"So, what's it gonna be?" insisted Togoshi. "Somebody's gotta be in charge, right? So? Who's driving the bus?"

"This isn't the time," began Dojima.

"Of course it is," interrupted Togoshi. "You just said you wanna keep going. You want to pick up where we left off. So, enough of this moping around and let's get back to business. We need a team leader. You look like the man for the job. You're experienced, you've got credentials, and you've got drive coming out of your ears…more than I do, anyway. I'm a drunk who can't navigate his way out of a paper bag. I'm lazy and I'm gonna show up late two days out of five, at least."

Dojima raised an eyebrow. "Like hell you are."

"Oh yeah? That an order, team leader?" Togoshi was grinning, now. It was terrifically and disturbingly out of place in the moment, but Dojima found himself stifling a lopsided smile.

**Meanwhile, at Junes…**

"Looks like we're all here," announced Yu. He, Rise, Kanji, Yukiko, and Yosuke were all gathered around their favorite TV in the electronics department, preparing for battle.

"So?" grunted Kanji. "Let's do this."

"Sure," agreed Yosuke. "I've had to sit out too many of these, lately. Kinda looking forward to it."

Rise sighed. "That's easy for you to say," she admonished him. "It's not your shadow we're going hunting for."

"That's because we already caught mine," countered Yosuke.

"That goes for me too," agreed Kanji. "It's not like it was a freaking picnic or anything or us either."

Rise opened her mouth to respond, but Yukiko quietly intervened. "Bickering will get us nowhere," she reminded them. "This isn't the time nor the place. Come on, Yu-kun. Let's go inside."

Yukiko stepped through into the TV, and Yu was quick to follow suit. Moments later, Kanji, Rise, and Yosuke joined them.

"Okay, here we go," began Yosuke. "Piece of cake, right? All we have to do is find some place to wait for a little way, and then sooner or later-!"

"Wait." Rise held up a hand to forestall them all. "Something's not right. It feels…different." Quickly, she summoned her persona, and waited a moment while Kouzeon scanned the immediate area. "It's like the atmosphere's changed. The world is bigger. There's someplace new. It's someplace I've never felt here before."

Yu's stomach dropped. _That can't be, _he told himself. _We would have heard by now if there had been another incident._

"Crap," mumbled Kanji, expressing what they were probably all feeling.

Rise started off across the bridge, and the rest of the team hurried to keep up. They wandered on for what felt like several minutes, until Rise stopped dead in front of a familiar, squat little structure with a slightly domed roof and an engraved sign hanging just next to the front double doors. The sign read "Inaba Police Station."

"But…" Rise was puzzled. "Why would this be here? I don't understand…"

Yu had a feeling that he knew. "We need to get in touch with Chie and Naoto. Let's not go any farther until we've heard from them. We should turn back for now; at least until we figure out what's going on. Tomorrow morning, maybe, we can-!"

"No way! Are you serious? So, that's how it's gonna be?" snapped the somewhat distorted tones of Rise's own voice from just behind the police station. A perfect copy of Rise herself stepped forward into the light, wearing an exasperated, sarcastic little look in her glinting yellow eyes. "You're just going to run away and leave me here all alone? But that's what you always do, isn't it? You're always running away…from one place to another. You're always there and never here. I guess that's part of your girlish charm; playing hard to get. After all, isn't that what all the boys really want?"

"Crap!" This time, it was Yosuke who swore."I don't think we're getting out of here after all…"

Yu shook his head firmly. "Don't panic," he instructed them. "This is what we came here for in the first place, remember? This is what we were expecting. Nothing's different. We know how to beat this. Rise?"

"Right," whispered Rise, narrowing her eyes at the approaching shadow. "We can do this, I know we can!"

"Oh? You can? I'm so glad! I'd hate to be all by myself for any longer. Ooh, tell you what, let's play a game! If you catch me, I'll let you fight me!"

Kanji cracked his knuckles. "I'll catch you all right," he muttered darkly. "Then I'll wring your neck, girl or not."

"Ooh, I'm excited!" Shadow Rise winked at them. "Well, are we ready? In that case…come and get me, boys!"

With that, Shadow Rise spun around, threw open the door of the police station, and darted inside. She disappeared through the door and was lost in the darkness of the building's interior.

"Oh, man," moaned Yosuke. "So much for waiting until we get in touch with Chie."

"We don't have to do this now," began Yu. "We can regroup, come back, and find her later. The shadows are a part of us; they're not going anywhere. She'll be here when we get back. There's no reason to-!"

To Yu's surprise, Rise was already moving forward. Apparently ignoring him, or having totally tuned him out, she clenched both fists, shook her head, and whispered, "I'm not going to run away this time." Then she stepped through the door and into the police station, leaving the others staring after her in surprise.

"What the-?" began Kanji.

"We need to hurry," murmured Yukiko. "Rise's too vulnerable. She's not a fighter. We can't leave her alone."

With Yukiko again in the lead, the rest of the team rushed into the darkened station.

**Meanwhile, in the food court…**

Teddie, decked out in his bear costume, was bobbing and smiling happily away with a bunch of orange and black balloons in each hand, advertising and handing out flyers for the Halloween costume competition that was going to be taking place at Junes within the month. Nanako watched for a few minutes while Teddie handed a balloon to a crying child, who immediately stopped crying and broke into peals of laughter.

_He's nice, _she told herself. _He's really sweet. He cares about people, and people like him._

She still wasn't certain that this was a good idea. In fact, the closer she came to the moment of truth, the more convinced Nanako became that this was a terrible idea that she was going to sincerely regret later.

_But everybody likes him, _she reminded herself. _He's our friend. If I'm mean to him, or hurt his feelings, or make him sad, I'll be letting him and everyone else down. I'll be making it so awkward for everyone, and I don't want that._

By this point, Teddie had spotted Nanako. He tied his balloons hastily to a nearby chair leg, and bounced over to greet her, noisily unzipping the top of his costume as he came. For a moment, Nanako was genuinely alarmed. She was relieved, therefore, to see that he had a bright blue sweater on underneath the bear suit.

"Nana-chan! You came to visit me? I'm so happy!" Teddie beamed and sparkled at her.

"Um…yes. Hi, Teddie." For some reason, Nanako's voice was coming out much more quietly than she'd planned. She could feel her face getting hot and uncomfortable as she tried to figure out where to put her hands. Eventually she settled for clasping them and wringing them together behind her back. "H-how are you? It's a nice day today…"

"It's beautiful, now!" Teddie gave Nanako an exaggeratedly roguish wink. "It'll never be as lovely as you, though, Nana-chan!"

There were a few moments of extremely awkward silence. Teddie continued to twinkle, apparently unperturbed.

"So?" he asked. "Do you want to go on a date with me?"

Nanako had not been prepared for something quite so blunt. She wasn't sure why, since "blunt" might as well have been Teddie's middle name.

"Y-yes," she managed, forcing a smile. "I think that would be very nice. It was…very nice of you to ask me, Teddie."

"Really? Oh, wow! I'm beary, beary excited!" Teddie looked as thrilled as he sounded. "I want to take all these balloons and let them go at the same time, as an expression of my untempered joy!"

"Please, don't do that." Nanako eyed the balloons with concern. "They probably cost someone some money, I think…and aren't you supposed to give them away not just let them go?" She was stalling for time, uncertain of what she was supposed to do next. Now that she'd agreed to a date, what was the next step? Was she just supposed to walk away? Should she give him a smile, or wink at him, the way Rise sometimes did with Big Bro? That somehow didn't seem like the appropriate thing for a young lady to do.

"How about tomorrow?" asked Teddie. "I get off work early, tomorrow! We can go get dinner, and then see a movie in the city! And after that, we can lie out under the stars on the hill together, and talk about all the sweet things that we'd be too ashamed to say in front of our nosy friends…" Teddie had a wistful look on his face.

_Stars? _Wondered Nanako desperately. _But I think Kusumi-san said that it was supposed to rain tomorrow night…_

"Um…dinner sounds nice," she squeaked.

**Chapter 77: Chapter Seventy Five: People Skills**

**Author's Note: **Wow, we're at chapter seventy five already?

So, I guess it won't surprise any of you that I am, in fact, planning a sequel for this story. My outlines for this story have already taken up so many notebooks that I think to tell the entire story, I really will need to do it in the form of a series. With that in mind, um, I'm super excited! I hope you are, too! There's lots of plot-heavy, character-driven juicyness on the horizon.

Oh, and I'm sorry about the lack of update last night. I went to a party. I am going to try to update daily from now on, to the best of my ability.

**Chapter Seventy Five: People Skills**

Back at the police station, Chie and Naoto were nowhere to be found. Dojima tried to convince himself that they'd just taken a breather to get some coffee and regroup, but he knew better. This, time, though, he couldn't really bring himself to worry about it. There were too many other things on his mind, and he was already exhausted, even though the day, he knew, had barely started.

Takahashi, at least, seemed to be hard at work. He was focused on his computer screen, as always, although he was banging away at the keyboard with uncharacteristic determination. Across from him, at her own desk, Yanase was biting her lip, hard, and talking on the phone in low tones. She didn't look very happy, and she kept shaking her head, even though she knew, presumably, that whoever was on the other end couldn't see her. Dojima hazarded a guess that Yanase had taken it upon herself to contact Chief Taiga's family members, and was now dealing with being the bearer of the worst possible news.

_I should have been the one doing that, _he thought dully, but without any real conviction. _She's only been here a little more than a week._

Chief Taiga's desk, in the center of the room, was being given a wide berth by the entire station. As people walked by, they'd shoot uncomfortable glances at it, and then hurry on their way. There should have been on one sitting there, of course, out of respect for the deceased, if nothing else. Togoshi, however, had planted himself in Taiga's chair only moments after they'd all arrived back from the scene of the crime. He was pouring through Taiga's papers with his eyes narrowed, lips moving as he grumbled unintelligible things to himself.

"Juro's very good," murmured Yanase, appearing at Dojima's elbow. "With people, I mean. He understands them, and how they think. People will do things for Juro that they wouldn't do if anyone else had asked. He makes them feel comfortable." Yanase was gazing at her partner with pride in her eyes. "Back home, he always knows a lot about criminals, and why they do what they do. He'll sit there with the newspapers, and he'll do research, and ask questions, and eventually he can tell you where they're hiding ,because he understands them, I mean. I think that's what he's doing now. He's trying to understand the chief. You know…so that we can figure out what he was thinking about, and how he would have wanted us to continue the investigation."

_And why he killed himself, _thought Dojima. _I'm sure he's curious about that, too. _Out loud, he said, "that's a valuable skill. Can't say I'm much of a people person myself."

Yanase nodded. "Um…that's okay. I'm not really good at people, either. They make me a little nervous. I prefer paperwork." She glanced over her shoulder at the telephone, frowning. Dojima reached out and gave her shoulder a commiserating little pat.

"I told them we were very sorry," she sighed. "I told them we would be happy to answer any questions, and that I'm sure he loved them very much."

"Yeah?" Dojima raised an eyebrow. "You ever hear him talk much about his family?"

Yanase shrugged. "That doesn't mean he didn't love them. It doesn't mean that at all."

_Well, that's true, _thought Dojima. _Although…honestly, I didn't even know he had any family. He wasn't such an open guy. _"You did good," he told her. "No people skills, huh? I dunno, maybe you're more like your partner than you think you are."

Yanase beamed at him. "Thank you, sir." Then she hurried back over to her own desk.

Dojima took a deep breath. _Okay, _he wondered. _So, where do we go from here?_

**Meanwhile, inside the TV world…**

Yu and the others stood for a moment inside the darkened police station, waiting for their eyes to adjust.

"Rise?" called Yosuke. "Hey, where'd you go?"

"She may have already gone ahead," murmured Yukiko. "We should hurry. They could be anywhere."

"Yoohoo! I'm over here!" called Shadow Rise, from somewhere out in front of them. "Come and get me! I'll be waiting…"

"Rise?" called Yu. There was no response. _I hope she's all right, _he thought. _It seems like the shadow is mostly teasing us, though, and _it_ wouldn't be doing that if it had already hurt Rise. I think we're okay, for now._

"There wasn't anything you could have done," whispered a voice into the air. Yu glanced sharply around, but couldn't identify the source. The voice seemed to coming out of the walls.

"Oh, it must be like before," exclaimed Yukiko. "When we first entered the TV world ten years ago, we could hear voices, too."

"Saki-senpai's parents," agreed Yosuke,. "And the other people in the town."

"Yes, and when Chie first met her shadow, she says that she could hear my voice in the air," Yukiko reminded them. "I think that's what this is."

"It's not your fault," intoned a gentle female voice. "You could never have seen it coming. You shouldn't think about it."

"You need to get some sleep," intoned a voice that sounded like Dojima's. "You're going to make yourself sick, and what good's that gonna do Fujioka, or anybody else?"

"Fujioka," mumbled Kanji thoughtfully. "Hey, hang on, isn't that the name of that policeman? You know, the one who died?"

"Yes," replied Yu. "The first victim."

"Okay, that makes sense." Yosuke sounded frustrated. "But, then, who's this guy? Some friend of his? Maybe a family member? He knows Dojima-san, obviously. Uh, wait, I've got it. Is it someone else from the police station?"

Yu had grown accustomed enough to the darkness that he could now make out the shape of a desk in the center of the room. On the desk were a picture of an elderly woman in a frame, a bottle of sake, and what appeared to be stacks and stacks of paperwork.

"Someone who felt responsible for Officer Fujioka's death," mused Yukiko. "Someone who had to be told over and over that it wasn't his or her fault…"

"Holy shit…" Yosuke's voice was suddenly hoarse. "Uh, listen…I don't want to be the one to bring this up, but…Dojima-san's okay, right? I mean…we know he's at the station. There's nothing wrong with him. He couldn't be…"

Yu shook his head. "He's fine. You said it yourself; whoever created this place was a friend of my uncle's. We heard uncle Dojima's voice, remember? So, it isn't him."

"R-right! Yeah, of course!" Yosuke sounded relieved. "That was pretty stupid of me. Sure, of course he's okay."

Something lurched audibly in the darkness, and Yu spun around just in time to be smacked across the face by the butt of a gun. He heard grunts and gasps of surprise as his friends, presumably, encountered similar difficulties.

"Yukiko!" he shouted.

"Yes!" Yukiko took a deep breath. "Kisshoten! Maragidyne!"

Instantly, the room around them was full of flame. As bursts of fire erupted in the spaces where each of the assailants were standing, the flames illuminated the faces of four hulking, fat shadows, each shaped somewhat like policemen, with malicious sneers etched on to their faces, and oversized revolvers in each of their hands. The shadows winced and staggered in the face of the fiery onslaught, but were soon focused again, each of them raising its weapon, and pointing it directly at a member of the investigation team. In unison, they all fired.

"Ack!" shouted Yosuke, doubling over in pain. Kanji grunted and grabbed at his chest, and Yukiko shrieked. It was all Yu could do to manage to stay upright, the pain in his midsection was so searing.

_They're strong, _he thought. _Much stronger than they should be. I shouldn't be surprised._

By now, of course, he understood the drill. There had to be something about these policemen, something that came from the mind and memory of the person who had created this place. They were based, on doubt, on memories, and on personal experiences, just like so many of the other shadows they'd all met recently had been. If he could only figure out what that thing was, then he'd be able to sort out their weaknesses and kill them quickly.

_But I don't even know whose place this is, _he thought, frustrated. _I have no idea where to begin._

**Meanwhile, in Magatsu Inaba…**

"Adachi-san!" Nanako slid under the caution tape and hurried over to where Adachi was leaning against the wall, watching moodily while Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto disemboweled a writhing shadow. Adachi looked up at her as she approached, and so did his persona, temporarily taking its eyes off of its prey to assess the newcomer.

"Oh!" Nanako smiled. "You're getting better!"

"Huh? Better at what?" asked Adachi.

"At controlling your persona." Nanako gestured in Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto's direction. "Look, she's watching us. She's paying attention."

Almost the moment the words were out of Nanako's mouth, the persona snapped it's head back around, and wrenched the shadow's arm off in one enthusiastic motion. The shadow exploded into red and black essence, and Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto gave Adachi a defiant look.

"Heh." Adachi shook his head. "I think she heard you."

Nanako did her best to ignore the carnage that the persona had so proudly wreaked. "Anyway," she said, stepping around so that her back was to the scene. " Are you ready?"

"Ready?" Adachi raised an eyebrow. "What for?"

"For training!" Nanako summoned her persona, who, upon emerging, shot a quick look over its shoulder at Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto before returning full attention to Nanako. "It's been a couple of days since we've had a chance."

"Jeez…you don't believe in breaks, do you? Just like your dad. Figures." Adachi sighed. "What, do you need something to take your mind off the bear situation?"

Nanako had not been expecting that. She flushed, and Adachi laughed.

"Sure," he said. "I'm game. Why not? I could use something to-!"

"Nanako-chan!" Chie suddenly came barreling through the doorway, with Naoto close on her heels. Chie looked panicked, and even Naoto wasn't her usually collected self. "Igor told us we'd find you here. Where's Yu? We need to find him right away! It's important!"

Nanako was alarmed. "What's wrong? What's happening?"

"We'll tell you later," Naoto assured her. "Right now, it is imperative that we locate your cousin and the others. We must speak with them before it is too late. Can you help us?"

At first, Nanako was going to say no. She had no idea where Yu was, and hadn't even known that he was in the TV world in the first place.

_But I can look for him, _she realized. _Tatsu-ta-hime and I can search for him together._

"Okay," she said, nodding. "Just, um…one minute." She closed her eyes, and felt Tatsu-ta-hime's comforting presence settle in around her, protecting her, reassuring her, and guiding her towards the answers she needed. It took longer than just "one minute," but eventually, Nanako did since Yu's presence a long way away, in a part of the TV world that she hadn't yet had the opportunity to explore.

"I can feel him," she told them quietly. "He's…he's kinda far away…"

"Take us there!" insisted Chie. "Please, Nanako-chan…quickly!"

Nanako nodded. She released Tatsu-ta-hime, who disappeared back into her soul, and then turned to look at Adachi, who was watching the proceedings with a complete lack of interest on his face.

"Are you coming?" she asked.

"I don't know," he muttered sarcastically. "Am I? Do I have a choice?"

**Chapter 78: Chapter Seventy Six: Show Business**

**Author's Note: **I'm having so much fun getting back into writing this story. I missed it while I was busy.

If you're enjoying it as well, please feel free to review or comment! I'd love to hear from you.

**Chapter Seventy Six: Show Business**

Yu and the others were doing their best to hold off the shadow policemen, throwing themselves full-force at their assailants with every attack they could think of.

_The problem with guns, _realized Yu, _is that it's very hard to duck or dodge a bullet. Swords and other kinds of weapons we can block or sidestep, but guns are a problem. We need to figure this out, fast._

Yukiko and Kisshoten were a set of magical blurs, moving as quickly as they could from person to person, spreading their healing wherever they went. Part of Yu wanted to summon one of his priestess personas so that he could help Yukiko out, but he was far too busy trying to defeat the shadow that didn't really even seem to be flagging in the face of his attacks.

The door of the police station suddenly flew open, and Yu glanced over his shoulder to see Nanako, Chie, and Naoto rushing towards them, with Adachi trailing along behind.

"Whoa," muttered Chie, staring around her. "This place…it's just like the station. Well, no, quite just like it. Uh…something's off, but…"

"Senpai!" Naoto hurried forward. "Are you all right? Is anyone hurt?" She took stock of the group, then frowned, and added, "where is Rise-chan?"

"Rise went ahead," said Yosuke, lashing out with his weapon at an oncoming shadow policeman. "She's somewhere further inside! We're okay, all thanks to Yukiko, but I don't think we can keep this up forever."

"Speak for yourself," muttered Kanji. He had broken off one of the legs of the desk that sat in the center of the room, and was using it to beat one of the shadows over the head. Despite his brave words, he was sweating, and gritting his teeth.

"Chie!" called Yu. "What's going on? Has there been a second victim? Whose place is this?"

Chie bit her lip and nodded. "Yeah…they found Chief Taiga dead in his home. It looked like he'd killed himself, but…" She shook her head. "That's not what really happened, right? Naoto and I figured it out, and so we came straight here! Dojima-san's going to wonder what happened to us…"

Yukiko gasped. "The police chief? Oh no, that's terrible…"

"Yeah?" Kanji shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so. But, uh, it'd be terrible no matter who it was, right? Nothing special about the police chief…police are just people."

_Yes, _agreed Yu. _But, now that we know that we're facing the mind of the chief of police, we at least have a better idea of what kind of a person we're up against. Policemen are people, but they think differently. They're trained to think in certain ways. It's just like before, when we defeated Naoto's grandfather by knowing that he was used to looking for patterns. There must be something like that, something we can use, something about policemen, the way Chief Taiga would have seen them.._

"I don't know," mused Adachi. "I mean…sure, policemen are people too and all that crap, but they kinda act more like sheep half the time. When I joined up, I figured it was gonna be a badass job about saving the world and waving your weapon around, kicking ass and getting shit done! Turns out that the only people who really get to do that are the higher-ups. The rest of us just follow the boss around like sheep. 'Yes sir,' and 'No sir,' and 'Here's your coffee, you son of a bitch.' Man, Dojima-san was the worst, too. I think he was harder on me than any of the others were on their partners. Figures…that's the kind of luck I've got."

Unsurprisingly, no one paid any attention to Adachi's ranting.

_But, _realized Yu, _he's right. I hate to say it, but he's right about one thing. Policemen are trained to follow orders and to be subordinate. It's for everyone's safety; there are weapons and safety decisions involved. They have to be sure that the person making those decisions is qualified to do it. I get that. I think even uncle Dojima gets that, and he's never been good at taking orders._

One of the shadows, who had been focusing all of its energy on Yukiko, finally managed to knock her down. As Yukiko began struggling back to her feet, Yu prepared to abandon the shadow he was fighting in order to go and help her.

_Wait, _he realized, staring at the shadow attacking Yukiko. _That one's different. It's not the same color as the others. Its clothes are darker, and it's a bit bigger. Is it a stronger shadow? Are there two different kinds out here? I thought we were only fighting one kind._

He took a quick look around, and confirmed that all of the other shadow policemen looked identical. The only one that was really any different was the one facing Yukiko.

_Oh, _he realized suddenly. _No, it can't be that simple…_

Risking a glance over at Adachi, Yu saw that Adachi was also staring at the darker, larger shadow. Then Adachi turned his head, and his eyes met Yu's for a moment.

"Well?" asked Adachi, raising an eyebrow. "Come on, how many hints do I have to give you?"

Yu didn't waste any time responding to that. "Chie! Yosuke! Everyone!" he shouted. "New plan! Focus all of your attacks on the shadow that's fighting Yukiko."

"Huh?" Chie looked puzzled. "But, what about the others? If we just ignore them, then they'll-!"

"I think the bigger one is the leader," insisted Yu, cutting her off. "Just do it. If we all work together we can kill it pretty quickly."

The investigation team, following the instructions of its leader, began pummeling the larger shadow with every possible attack. They hit the shadow all at once with ice, fire, wind, lighting, darkness, light, as well as several impressive physical swipes and slashes. Just as Yu had predicted, it wasn't long before the shadow crumpled to the ground, and then exploded into particles of shadow essence. Then, for a long moment, everything stopped.

"What now?" whispered Nanako. "Big Bro…what are they doing?"

The shadows were now all staring at each other, expressionless and silent. Yu realized that he was holding his breath and clenching his fists, preparing to restart the attack the moment it looked as though the shadows were going to turn on them again.

That moment, however, never came. Instead of attacking, the policemen shadows all began waddling back off into the darkness, their backs to Yu and the others, apparently suddenly indifferent to the presence of the investigation team.

"Nice," muttered Adachi, raising his weapon. "That's a pretty easy shot."

"Don't." Before Adachi had the chance to fire, Nanako put her hand on top of his and pushed the gun away. "They're leaving. We don't have to fight them. They're not going to hurt us anymore."

Adachi scowled at her, but she glared right back at him. Eventually, Adachi put the gun back in its holster. Yu started breathing again.

"You're an idiot," snarled Yosuke. "They're finally leaving us alone, and you want to get their attention again?"

"He's not an idiot," said Nanako, rounding on Yosuke. "He figured out how to beat them, remember? You need to stop fighting. It's getting old. We need to find Rise-san."

With that, Nanako took Adachi firmly by the hand, stepped around the now very wobbly desk in the center of the room, and started off into the darkness.

"Hey, whoa, wait up! Don't go off on your own! Nanako-chan!" Chie rushed after her, followed immediately by Kanji and Naoto.

"She's right, you know," murmured Yukiko. "We don't have time to fight amongst ourselves anymore."

Yosuke sighed. "I know…I know. Damnit. Your sister's kind of a handful, partner. You know that?"

As Yu, Yukiko, and Yosuke all followed after Nanako as well, Yu found himself smiling. He'd always had plenty of reason to be proud of Nanako.

They found Rise around the next corner, standing with her back against the wall, staring into the eyes of a man whom Yu recognized as Inoue-san, Rise's former manager. He'd met the man a couple of times during his first year in Inaba, when Inoue had attempted to convince Rise to return to show business. Inoue was gazing at Rise with a sort of gentle, fatherly disappointment in his eyes, and a complete lack of malice, which Yu felt was odd considering the way Shadow Rise had been taunting them only minutes before.

"No," Rise was whispering, shaking her head. "It wasn't my fault."

"Rise-chan," murmured Shadow Inoue. "You can't keep acting like this forever. If you want to be an adult, you're going to have to learn to accept responsibility for the things you've done, even if you don't like the consequences. I tried to teach you that…and a lot of other things. I hope at least some of them got through."

"But," insisted Rise miserably. "All I wanted was to make people happy. That's what I-!"

"All you wanted," interrupted Shadow Inoue quietly, "was to make yourself happy. That's not strange, and it's not wrong. It's very human, and you shouldn't be ashamed of it. I just…I guess I expected more from you, that's all. Maybe it wasn't fair of me. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I should have given you more space. As it is…it might have been better for both of us if my expectations hadn't been quite so high."

He gave Rise a little smile, and she flinched. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I let you down. If it had been me driving that car, and not Kanami, then…then none of this would have happened. You'd never have gotten hurt. If I'd only stuck around, like you wanted me to…but I had to know. I had to know what it would be like to live a normal life and feel like a normal person! I wanted to make real friends and make mistakes, like everybody else. I was so tired of pretending."

"But it didn't help, did it?" Shadow Inoue's voice was still soft, but there was now there was something harder and sterner about the set of his eyes. "You made your friends, and you took your time, and at the end of the year, you wanted to go back to the stage. It wasn't enough for you, being 'normal.' I never thought it would be. You let me down, and you let your fans down. Then, after you'd disappointed us all, you disappointed your friends by leaving them. You're flighty, Rise-san. You're unreliable. You can't commit. I suppose in that way, at least, you and Kanami have a lot in common."

Rise sucked in a sharp breath, and held out both her hands. "No…no, that's not true. Don't say that! I would never have done what she did!"

"You were too young for me to rest my hopes on," insisted Shadow Inoue. "So was she. Neither of you could be trusted to follow through, or to understand what real dedication is. You wanted to live for the moment. So did she."

"No." Rise had started to cry. "No, I'm nothing like her!"

Yu could see that Shadow Inoue was already beginning to grow in size, and to change gradually, his body becoming darker and darker and his arms beginning to stretch into spidery tentacles. Yu took a few steps forward, prepared to intervene, but before he had the chance, Yukiko was in front of him, placing both of her hands on Rise's shoulders.

"You know in your heart that none of that is true," she insisted quietly. "You've never let us down, and you'd never let anyone get hurt just to get what you wanted. I know how it feels not to know what you want; to want to see what other kinds of lives might feel like. Sometimes it just takes a while for us to figure out what we really want. Some of us never do, and that's…that's okay too."

"It's characteristic of children who go into show business too early," intoned Shadow Inoue, through a moutht hat was rapidly melting back into his face. "We put too much pressure on them too soon, and they let us down. They want everything all at once, and they get nothing and give less. It's not your fault."

"It's not my fault," repeated Rise desperately, but she didn't sound as though it was making her feel any better.

Yukiko bit her lip. "We're going to beat this together," she assured Rise, taking a quick step back and summoning her persona. "We're going to prove that you're better than he says you are, and than you think you are. Right, everyone?"

"Of course," muttered Yosuke.

"Uh, yeah. Right. Do you really gotta ask?" Kanji shrugged.

"We're proud of you, Rise!" insisted Chie. "Even more now than we were before!"

As the rest of the investigation team prepared for battle, Yu saw Shadow Inoue falter and waver slightly, becoming temporarily insubstantial, an uncertain look crossing his face. Then, just as suddenly, he was rearing back, now equipped with eight tentacle arms and a set of terrible red teeth. He lurched forward, and Rise half-ducked and half-crumpled, rolling out of the way of the attack.

"Here we go!" called Yu, as the others rushed forward en masse.

**Chapter 79: Chapter Seventy Seven: Girl**

**Chapter Seventy Seven: Girl**

The battle began in earnest. Yukiko, Yosuke, Chie, Kanji, and Naoto made a semicircle around Rise and Shadow Inoue, barraging him with physical attacks. Off to one side, Yu could see Nanako tugging urgently at Adachi's arm, although Adachi was standing back and looking on with academic disinterest in his eyes.

_Let him be, _thought Yu. _We can't win this battle just by outnumbering the shadow, anyway. We've learned that in every other case. There has to be something about Inoue that we can use…something about Rise's past experience with him._

He reflected back on what he'd overhead of Shadow Inoue's conversation with Rise. He'd been lecturing her about commitment, about being willing to focus enough on tasks to stick with them for long periods of time. He'd accused her of being too selfish for that kind of commitment, the same way that other very young stars ended up being selfish and subsequently getting into trouble.

_I don't think any of that helps, _he decided, frustrated. _None of it gives us any clue to his weakness._

One of Shadow Inoue's tentacle arms shot out and slapped Yosuke around the face several times. Yosuke winced and stumbled back, but managed to stay on his feet.

_Yosuke was right, _reflected Yu. _For some reason he is always the person to get the brunt of the attacks. Why is that, I wonder? _"Guys!" he called out. "What do we know about Inoue-san?"

"Huh?" Chie frowned, and paused in the midst of kicking out at the shadow. "Um, well…wasn't he someone who worked with Rise when she was a teen idol?"

"Some kind of a tool," muttered Kanji, unhelpfully.

"Inoue-san was Rise's manager," Naoto corrected them. "He was responsible for arranging and promoting her appearances. Due to her status as a minor he was also, to some extent, responsible for her well being…or at least, it seems that he felt responsible, as indicated by the encounter we just witnessed. Does that assist, at all?"

_It should, _thought Yu, frowning.

By this time, Nanako had apparently coaxed Adachi into the circle of fighters. He had already summoned his persona, who was dancing back and forth in the air, apparently ready for a little excitement. Nanako had summoned her own persona, and was concentrating hard, apparently doing her best to help out with determining the shadow's weakness.

"Wait, hang on!" shouted Yosuke. "I've got this one! Listen, Kanji said he was a 'tool,' right?"

"Um…I don't think that's going to help us much." Yukiko looked doubtful.

Yosuke shook his head. "No, but it is. Seriously, maybe this isn't what Kanji meant, but a manager's kind of like a tool, right? I mean, he's someone you use to help get ahead. Rise would have used him to help her succeed. That's his job, that's what he's there for. Am I right?"

"R-right…" Chie didn't sound too certain. "But, Yosuke, there's no way Rise thought of him that way. She's not like that. She's not-!"

"Everybody's like that!" Yosuke was started to sound frustrated, as he ducked a blow from another tentacle. "We can't help it! I thought you'd all figured that out already. This isn't about being noble, or loyal, or pretending Rise's superhuman, got it? We're all guilty of using other people sometimes. She knows she does it. If she didn't, this guy wouldn't be attacking us right now. Got it?"

There was a moment of unsettled silence as the rest of the team forced themselves to come to terms with that.

"Yosuke's right," murmured Nanako. "And…I think that's okay, too. All he's saying is that Rise was used to letting him help her. If someone's trying to help you, then letting them help you is…is right, isn't it?" She glanced over at Adachi for confirmation. He shrugged.

"You're right," agreed Yu, when Adachi didn't step up. "There's nothing wrong with accepting help, Nanako. But this still doesn't explain how we're going to defeat him."

Yosuke shook his head. "It does. It totally does. Listen. So, Inoue-san was a tool to help Rise's music get popular, right? Like, um, a CD player, or a radio station. You know, electronic stuff that helps you play music."

"I hate this," muttered Yukiko miserably. "He's a person…or, at least he was a person."

"You're saying we should electrocute him," murmured Yu thoughtfully. "We should treat him as though he was a mechanical object."

"It's, uh, it's worth a try." Yosuke didn't sound quite as sure as he had moments ago. "Might not work, but…"

Kanji, always impulsive, shrugged, and said, "Uh, Jurojin, Ziodyne."

A bolt of lightning hit Shadow Inoue square in the chest…and had, apparently, very little effect.

"Didn't work," Kanji informed them, unnecessarily.

"You can easily destroy electronic devices by dousing them with water," remarked Naoto. "Perhaps if…"

"Already there!" Chie squared her shoulders. "Ready, Yukiko?"

"Ready!" Yukiko nodded.

"Okay!" shouted Chie. "Benzaiten, Bufudyne!"

At the same time, Yukiko shouted, "Kisshoten, Agidyne!"

At the exact same moment, a cascade of ice crystals shot out of Chie's persona, while a burst of flame shot out of Yukiko's persona. The two attacks met right where Shadow Inoue was standing, and the fire served to melt the ice in such a way that Shadow Inoue was doused with water.

"I…have never seen anything quite like that before," murmured Naoto, suitably impressed. "That was incredible."

Chie and Yukiko beamed. "We've been practicing," admitted Yukiko. "I'm just glad it worked…"

_But it didn't work, _thought Yu, watching as Shadow Inoue staggered, but then pulled himself upright again. _That wasn't the trick. It was great, but it didn't bring him down._

"Electricity and water," declared Naoto. "The surest way to electrocute someone…"

Kanji, Yukiko, and Chie all looked at each other, and nodded. Then, taking a deep breath, Kanji had his persona perform a lightning attack. At the very same time, Yukiko and Chie performed their joint water attack, and this time the lighting and water both encountered Shadow Inoue at the same time.

The effect was terrifying. For a moment, Shadow Inoue's entire body jolted, and then he stood stock still, staring in shock into Rise's tear stained face. He fell slowly forward, until he hit the ground with a dull thump, and Rise shook herself, climbing carefully to her feet.

"Rise," whispered Yukiko, stepping forward.

_Those two are more similar than I realized, _reflected Yu. _They both know what it's like to want to run away. That's probably why Yukiko feels so strongly about this. But still…_

Chie put a hand on Yukiko's shoulder. "You have to let her handle it," she insisted. "I know how you feel, but…if she doesn't do it herself, it won't mean anything."

"I…I know." Yukiko didn't sound happy, but she backed off. They all watched Rise expectantly.

"It's not like that," Rise was saying quietly, kneeling down next to where Shadow Inoue had fallen. "I told you the reason I got into music in the first place. It was because I wanted to make people happy. But…I didn't just want to make other people happy, I wanted to make myself happy, too. I didn't think I had to choose. I wanted both. I still do. Happiness is so hard to find…and it's the only thing I really want. I want to have it, and spread it, and create it. I want to do that through music, and in every other way I can. That's not wrong. I know it's not."

Briefly, she turned around, looked at her friends, and gave them a hesitant smile. Yu smiled back, and knew that the others were encouraging her as well, nodding and smiling too.

You told me to use my music to change the world," continued Rise, turning back to Shadow Inoue. "You said that you thought I had the power to do that. I don't know if you meant it when you said it, or if you only said it to help me 'get ahead,' like you had to do, but…that's what I want to do with my life. I am committed. I'm committed to everyone, all the time. I'm committed to myself, too. I'm nothing like Kanami, and I'm not a little kid who can't figure out what she wants. I know what I want, it's just hard for me to get. That doesn't mean I shouldn't try."

Frowning, she paused for a moment, then added, "But I know that I never wanted you to get hurt. I didn't mean to abandon you. When you started acting like you didn't care how I felt anymore, I felt like you had abandoned me. Does that…make sense?"

Shadow Inoue slowly climbed back on to his feet, and nodded once. His form began to shift and change, and soon he had turned back into Shadow Rise, who gazed at Rise out of unreadable yellow eyes. Then the air began to shimmer all around them, and Rise's persona emerged from her soul, locking eyes with Shadow Rise.

_Rise has faced and forgiven the past, _came the eternally disembodied voice.

As they watched, Rise's persona transformed as well into a tall, slim being with shining eyes and huge, outstretched was dressed in a flowing pink gown, and each of her hands contained a shimmering golden ring.

_She has obtained the façade_, continued the voice,_ used to face the unforeseeable future; the persona Kannon._

Kannon and Shadow Rise both lowered their heads, and then vanished in turn, leaving a sense of strange, ecstatic calm floating in the air where they had just been.

"Rise-chan," called Chie, as she and Yukiko hurried over to Rise's side. Rise sank slowly to her knees on the ground, although her face was now wreathed in a relieved smile.

"Wow," remarked Yosuke, hanging back with Yu while the others swarmed around Rise "We're…getting pretty good at this, huh?"

_Let's hope so, _thought Yu, fully aware that he was the only one left in the group who hadn't faced his shadow in this new TV world.

**Meanwhile, at the police station…**

As Dojima was walking over to the coffee maker, he overheard a conversation taking place between two middle-aged gentlemen at a nearby desk.

"Huh," muttered one of them, jerking a thumb over his shoulder in Dojima's direction. "Who'da thought? Three weeks ago, Ryotaro Dojima was supposed to be out of a job. Now he's swaggering around like he owns the place."

"Yeah,I hear you," agreed the other man. "if you ask me, he's probably pretty happy about the chief kicking the bucket like that. Chief's death was just the chance he needed to get ahead. Dojima sure doesn't look too beaten up about this whole thing, that's all I'm saying. And hey, wasn't it Taiga who insisted that the guy was too old and had to retire? So, he'd be pretty happy to see the chief out of the picture."

Dojima could feel his blood starting to boil. Taking a deep breath, doing his best to get his face under control, he started to turn around, preparing to walk back to his own desk. _There's no point in arguing,_he told himself. _Starting a fight wouldn't achieve anything, and it's just talk. I can't get down on their level. Taiga would be pissed as hell if he could see us getting into it over something like this._

"Excuse me," said Yanase, interrupting Dojima's thoughts. He looked over his shoulder to see that she was standing in front of the two complainers, her arms crossed over her chest. "I couldn't help but overhear…and you don't seem to be trying too hard to keep your voices down. You're mistaken. Dojima-san isn't like that. I think you should be ashamed. This is a police station not a high school. There's no place for that kind of gossip, here."

"What the-?" The two men looked at each other. "It's none of your business, girl. Shouldn't you be getting somebody coffee, or something?"

"Don't call me 'girl',' muttered Yanase, looking frustrated. "I'm not a secretary. I don't get coffee for anyone but myself. If anyone has work they should be doing right now, don't you think it's you?"

Dojima saw it coming, and slammed his cup back down on to the kitchen counter just as one of the two men started to rise angrily out of his seat. Before he'd had a chance to move any farther, however, Togoshi was suddenly standing at Yanase's side, his hand resting casually on her arm. The man who'd begun to rise sank back down into his chair, apparently far more intimidated by the deceptively jovial smile on Togoshi's face than he'd been by the infuriated look in Yanase's eyes.

"Now, now," began Togoshi. "Tensions are high, I get that. Let's all relax a little bit. Take a deep breath."

"Yeah," grumbled the man who'd started to stand. "Well, maybe if you can keep your partner out of our business…"

Togoshi nodded agreeably. Dojima could barely make out the traces of rage in the lines of Togoshi's grinning face. "I tell you what," replied Togoshi. "I'll make you a deal. Yanase will keep her opinions to herself…if you do the same. If we catch you spreading nasty rumors again, I may have to do something about it, you see? If you're going to act like fourteen year old girls giggling in the cafeteria, then maybe I should let Yanase here make you feel like girls. What do you think, Cho?"

He gestured meaningfully at the crotch of one of the two men, who immediately crossed his legs and scooted back in his chair. Yanase's face went slightly red, but she glanced back at Togoshi, then cracked her knuckles as though preparing for a fight, even if she didn't look quite like she meant it.

"F-fine," muttered one of the men, and he quickly stood up and moved off to another part of the station. His friend returned to typing away at his computer, and Togoshi returned to Taiga's desk.

"You didn't have to do that," said Dojima, catching up with Yanase as she returned to her work.

"Yes," she murmured, "I did."

Dojima shook his head. "Well…thanks. But you-!"

Yanase was chewing angrily on her lip, apparently lost in her own thoughts. "They never would have said something like 'girl' if Officer Narukami had been here," she muttered darkly. "Or Detective Shirogane."

**Chapter 80: Chapter Seventy Eight: Black**

**Authors' Note: **You asked for more character development, and your wish is my command!

So, one big question that people have been asking me is: Where's Margaret?

Don't panic! There's still plenty more in store for Dojima and Margaret. She'll come back…but we have a little ways to go yet before we meet her again. Patience, my beloved readers. I'll deliver, I promise!

**Chapter Seventy Eight: Black**

Adachi felt like he was getting a raw deal.

The day before, he'd watched and even helped out a little bit while the pop idol, Rise Kujikawa, had sniffled and cowered her way through facing her shadow. The battle itself hadn't been so bad, and Adachi had even been kind of proud of himself when he'd managed to keep a tight hold on Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto the entire time. There had been an awful lot of crying, comforting back-patting, and general emotional soupiness to the whole encounter, which hadn't made a lot of sense to him. After all, the girl was a famous pop idol. She had people crawling around on hands and knees, fawning on her and begging her for just a little more of her time. How bad could it possibly be? What could she have to get all worked up about? None of the shit about "changing the world through music" or "universal happiness" had struck a chord with Adachi. As far as he was concerned, Rise Kujikawa was never gonna understand what it was like to live a genuinely unlucky life. She'd probably never gone three days without food by choice after getting sick over a few beetles crawling around in the prison gruel, and she wasn't likely to. Adachi had been there. He'd been there, and a few other unpleasant places, most of which involved getting shouted at, ignored pushed around, or violently ill. He didn't have a ton of sympathy for poor little "Risette."

Even that, though, wasn't what was bothering him. He was annoyed because, even after the big battle he'd participated in the day before, it looked like he wasn't getting a break. In fact, he was stuck, for the second day in a row, training his "control" in Magatsu Inaba.

_Did they even notice how damn focused my persona's getting? _he wondered. _Not that it matters, I mean…that's not the point. The point is, I'm getting sick of this! You'd think I'd get a couple of days off now and then._

"I noticed," remarked Nanako, smiling at him and nodding encouragingly. "I think you're doing a great job."

Adachi tried to shrug that off. He really did. He did his best to ignore the little surge of pride he got and the happy little melty feeling inside him that he got in response to Nanako's praise.

_Ugh, _he thought. _Now, who's acting like a dumbass?_

"Why?" asked Nanako. "If you're happy, isn't that a good thing?"

Adachi winced. He kept forgetting that Nanako could now read his thoughts. Having a symbiotic psychological relationship with a seventeen-year-old good Samaritan wannabe got complicated.

"I think its fun." Nanako shrugged. "Besides, it's easier this way. This way I can keep an eye on you, even when I'm not around!"

_That's what I hate about it, _agreed Adachi.

"No, you don't." Nanako shook her head. "You want me to think you do, but you don't hate it at all. It's kind of lonely in the Velvet Room by yourself, right? So, now that I'm in your head, you don't have to be lonely anymore."

Adachi didn't have a good comeback for that. He tried as hard as he could not to think about how right she was, and about just how lonely it had been in prison, and even before that, in Inaba, and back in the city, where he knew he couldn't connect with anyone and wasn't going to bother trying. Just thinking about it made him disgusted with himself for being the kind of a sad pansy who'd get all emotional over crap like that, but…

Nanako reached out and gave him a quick little half-hug with one arm. "But I'm here now," she assured him.

Adachi went ahead and let the happy, melty feeling happen. Then he hated himself a little bit.

"Nanako! Adachi!" Yu called over to her from a few feet away, where he and his favorite persona, Izanagi-no-Okami, were standing and looking on. "What did I tell you? All conversations have to happen where I can hear them, outside of your heads."

_Aw come on, _thought Adachi, before he could stop himself. _She started it._

Nanako planted both hands on her hips. "I did not!" she muttered. "You were…"

She stopped, glanced into his eyes, and then started giggling. Adachi felt himself begin to grin.

**Some time later, at the local TV station…**

Yu and Marie were sitting together in a sort of employee lounge, eating steak skewers out of Souzai Daigaku takeaway bag that he'd picked up on the way.

"So?" mumbled Marie, raising an eyebrow as she munched her way happily through her steak. "How's 'married bliss?'" She pronounced the phrase dubiously, as though it was something she'd heard tell of, but didn't actually believe in.

Yu shrugged. _I haven't had too much time recently to find out, _he realized. "I'm happy here," he said. Things have been busy, but…it's nice to be with everyone again."

"With Chie, you mean," muttered Marie.

Yu didn't answer that. He didn't feel there was any need, especially since Marie was just trying to get a rise out of him.

After a moment, she mumbled. "Yeah, forget it. Whatever. So...did you find a job?"

"I'm waiting to hear back from a couple of places that I've applied to," he told her. The truth was that he'd been checking his cell phone every thirty seconds since he'd interviewed at Yasogami, hoping there might be some news. Chie was incredibly good natured about things, but money was starting to get tight, and the sooner he found employment, the more likely it was that "married bliss" would continue to be a reality. _If worst comes to worst, _he reminded himself unenthusiastically, _I'm sure Yosuke would help me find something at least part-time at Junes. I don't love stocking shelves, but it sure would bring back memories._

"I think we're looking for a new cameraman for the nightly news," Marie told him. "If you want, I can ask about it. People usually do what I tell them around here. I could get you that job."

Yu frowned. "Don't you already have a camerawoman? What about Suzume Moto? Is she leaving?"

Marie stared at him. "Suzume…Moto? What are you talking about?"

_That's right, _Yu remembered. _She said she'd never met Mariko Kusumi. _"She works here," he informed Marie. "She's friends with Yosuke, so I-!"

Marie was shaking her head. "Uh…no. There's no one named Suzume or Moto working here. Maybe you have the wrong TV station?"

_This is the only TV station for miles, _thought Yu. "No, I'm sure I'm right," he insisted. "I don't think you've ever met. She might be new. I'm not sure how long she's been working here."

Marie was starting to look annoyed. "I already told you, she doesn't work here! Look, I know pretty much everyone who does anything around here. That's just how it is; I'm important, so I end up working with lots of different people. There is nobody named Suzume Moto working here."

"Maybe she goes by a different name?" Yu wasn't sure it was worth arguing with Marie when she started getting indignant, but he was positive about what Suzume had told him.

He turned around to throw the wrapper form his steak skewer into the trash, and, conveniently enough, caught a glimpse of Suzume herself walking out of a door marked "Ladies room" across the hall from him. "That's her, right there," he told Marie, pointing. "That's Suzume."

Marie squinted at Suzume for a moment. "Oh," she murmured. "Yeah. I was right. She doesn't work here."

Yu blinked. "Are…are you sure?" He watched as Suzume hoisted a heavy looking bag on to her back, and headed out the door into the parking lot.

Marie, too, was gazing at Suzume's back, chewing thoughtfully on her lip. "Um…yeah, I'm sure. It's just…I think I've seen her somewhere before. Not here, but…somewhere."

_So, she lied about that, _thought Yu. _Yosuke's not gonna be too happy about this…_

**That evening, at the Dojima residence…**

"Nanako, I'm home!" called Dojima, pushing open the door to his house. Behind him, Yanase and Togoshi climbed out of the back of his car.

"Wow, nice place," commented Togoshi. "Is real estate cheaper out in the country? I guess it must be…"

"Juro," mumbled Yanase reproachfully, "Don't be rude.'

"What? I'm not being rude." Togoshi looked slightly hurt. "I said it was a nice place, didn't I? Nothing rude about that…"

They all piled through the front door together, as Nanako came down the stairs. She hurried over, gave her father a kiss on the cheek, and then gave the newcomers a very quick, slightly wary look before displaying her typical, welcoming smile.

Dojima was pleased. _That's my little girl, _he thought proudly. _Never let a stranger in without giving him the once-over first. Good job, Nanako._

"Oh," said Nanako, gesturing the two guests into the living room. "Um, you must be Togoshi-san and Yanase-san. Dad's been talking about you a lot. It's nice to meet you. Thanks for looking after Dad at the station."

"Looking after who, now?" Dojima scowled. "I'm a grown man. I don't need any 'looking after.' Anyway, you're my daughter, you shouldn't be…" He trailed off, realizing that Togoshi was now grinning at him.

"It's nice of you to have us over for dinner," remarked Yanase, taking a seat on the sofa as Nanako indicated. "I hope you don't mind, Nanako. It's a little last minute, but…"

"But," interrupted Dojima, "these two end up eating out all the time, and it's not healthy. I figure they could use a good home-cooked meal."

"We're not trying to put you to extra trouble," finished Yanase, giving Nanako an apologetic smile.

Nanako shook her head. "Oh, no, it's no trouble. Um…I don't cook, though. Big Bro does the cooking. He's' really good…and Dad called home a couple of hours ago to tell him, so I think it'll be okay."

"Big Bro? Oh, the famous nephew," mused Togoshi. "Narukami's husband, right? I'm looking forward to meeting him. Can only imagine what kind of guy would last long married to her."

Yanase kicked out at Togoshi's feet as he settled in next to her on the sofa. "Juro!"

"Aw, relax, I'm only kidding," Togoshi assured her. "Officer Narukami's a firecracker, that's all I'm saying. I like her. She's got some, uh…well, she's got balls, if you'll excuse my language. I like her hell of a lot better than that sad sack Takahashi." He gritted his teeth and shook his head. "What a waste of space that guy is…"

Yanase pursed her lips, but chose not to comment on that. Dojima didn't blame her. She was probably just as annoyed as he was at the way Takahashi was behaving. That morning, Takahashi announced that he'd put in for a transfer, and that he'd be leaving by train the very same evening to set up in another station in some other Podunk town. It had probably had something to do with the multiple deaths lately. He'd probably, decided Dojima, gotten freaked out and decided to bail.

Dojima hadn't bothered to argue or even to shout at him. There hadn't been much point. Once the paperwork was done and filed, no amount of yelling would have changed a thing…and besides, he'd never gotten along that well with Takahashi anyway. Even if it shrank the numbers a bit, it wouldn't be too much of a hassle to have him out of the way. It was an unfortunate thing to think, he decided, but that didn't make it any less true.

"Chie-san and Big Bro are shopping at Junes," Nanako informed them. "I think they'll be home soon. If you don't mind waiting for a little while, um…"

Dojima went into the kitchen. "I can make us all some coffee," he volunteered. "Any takers?"

"Yes, please," replied Yanase.

"We'll both have ours black," added Togoshi, "if that's okay with you."

Dojima grinned to himself as he began to brew the coffee. "Sounds good to me."

**Chapter 81: Chapter Seventy Nine: My Place**

**Author's Note: **So, when I started writing fanfiction in the first place, one of the things I really wanted to do was to plausibly create a happy ending for the persona 3 portable characters that fit in well with the canon. I got carried away by writing too much angst, at the time, and never actually managed to do that. I've been working a lot on the outline for the sequel of this story lately, and I can now tell you with absolute certainty that the sequel to **Dreamgirl** will contain some of the P3P characters, and will set them up for a significantly happier ending. I'm really looking forward to it, and I hope you are as well! It's going to be a long ride to get there, and we've got a lot to resolve and solve first, but that honestly just makes this more fun for me…

Stay tuned!

**Chapter Seventy Nine: My Place**

"This," announced Togoshi, swallowing a mouthful of curry, "is delicious. Don't tell my wife, or anything, but I think this might be the best curry I've ever had."

Yanase winced, apparently struggling with her loyalties. "Yes, it's very good," she said finally. "You've got a skill, Narukami-san."

"Chie and I made this together." Yu smiled at her. Nanako, having just raised her fork for her very first bite, hesitated; suddenly trying to decide if eating it was worth the risk.

"Aw, that's…that's not really true." For some reason, Chie was blushing. "Um, Yu did most of the work, I just…uh, helped. You know, handing him things, and…" She trailed off, flustered, and then looked defiantly around the room. "I never really learned to cook. I mean, I'm too busy to learn! I've got…important police things to do. Yeah."

Togoshi shrugged. "Cooking's important. You gotta eat to live, right, Ryotaro?"

While Chie frantically tried to backtrack and retract her statement, Yu gave her hand a comforting little squeeze on top of the table. It took Nanako a moment to register that Togoshi had just used her father's first name. She wasn't sure she'd ever heard anyone other than her mother call him by his first name, now that she thought about it. Dad, too, looked a little surprised.

"Uh, yeah," he agreed. "Right. Not that I've got any right to talk. I can't cook. That was…mostly up to Chisato."

Nanako was used to the table falling uncomfortably silent whenever her mother's name came up in conversation. Just thinking about her usually sent Dad off into some sort of reflective funk, and she never had the courage to butt in on his thoughts.

"Makes sense," said Togoshi. "I've always felt that women have a kind of knack for the kitchen stuff. Although, after tasting this curry, I have to say, I-!" Togoshi trailed off, realizing that Yanase was glaring at him. "What?"

"Don't be sexist," muttered Yanase. "It's got nothing to do with being a woman."

"That's what I was just about to say!" Togoshi held out both hands in a gesture of defeat. "I was going to say, this curry was made by a man, and it's delicious, so I'm way off base. Anyway, it's not sexist. It's a compliment. Being good at cooking's a good thing! Wish I could do it."

"Hmm. "Yanase didn't look totally convinced. Nanako watched as Yanase and Chie shared a sympathetic, long-suffering look.

"Anyway," continued Togoshi, "Cho here is a pretty decent cook. Aren't you, Cho?"

Cho bit her lip. "I'm…well, sometimes." She shook her head. "It's only because Togoshi's wife, Kiyoko, taught me a few things. She wanted me to learn so that I wouldn't suffer from living alone. At home, I usually make ramen, or noodles, but…we don't have a kitchen in our hotel room, so we've mostly been going around the corner to the restaurant, when we get off work."

"Wow…" Chie sighed. "I'm impressed. I'm not a great police officer, and I'm not much of a homemaker, either. You're good at both."

"You're doing fine," Yu reassured her. "Right now you're working for both of us. I'd say you're doing more than your fair share."

Chie smiled at him, and they shared what Nanako had come to recognize as a little "married moment." She looked away, and found that Yanase was frowning at her plate.

"I'm not a homemaker," murmured Yanase. "It's…not really a home, when you live alone."

Somehow, Togoshi had already managed to finish what was on his plate. "That's why I keep telling you, Cho," he said, eyeing the empty plate unhappily. "You never should have moved out. That basement room's still got your name on it, whenever you want it back."

Cho smiled. Yu and Chie were smiling at each other. From out of the corner of her eye, Nanako could see that Dad was smiling too. A warm feeling started to creep up Nanako's spine and into her cheeks, as she let the good atmosphere wash over her. For once, everything felt right, with everyone here together, enjoying themselves.

_I wonder how Adachi-san is doing, _she found herself thinking.

"So…I don't mean to be rude," began Togoshi, "but is there any chance of another plate? This stuff really is amazing…"

**Meanwhile, in the Velvet Room…**

Adachi slumped against a wall and drummed his fingers on his knees. Beside him in her accustomed seat, Margaret was leafing through the compendium, frowning intently down at something. Igor was gone, maybe on one of those weird, inexplicable errands that sometimes took him away from the room for long stretches.

Margaret, too caught up in her reading, didn't look up as the door creaked open. A young woman strode in, wearing a bizarre outfit, made of the same bright-blue material as Margaret's usual get-up. She had short blond hair underneath a little blue hat, and a face that was easy to look at, although right now, she was frowning, which on her looked more like a pout.

"Margaret," she said. "I'm back. We have to talk."

Margaret glanced up, and the book slipped out of her hands. She stared at the newcomer with a completely unreadable, impassive expression on her face. Adachi was sure for just a moment that he saw a muscle twitch in Margaret's cheek.

"I see," murmured Margaret, standing up. "In that case, if you would please follow me."

Without another word, Margaret and the new girl made their way back out of the Velvet Room, shutting the door behind him. Adachi blinked.

_Who the hell was that? _he wondered.

**Some time later, back at the Dojima residence…**

While he and Chie were washing up after dinner, Yu's phone began to ring.

"Sorry," he said. "One second." He answered it. "Hello?"

"Hey." It was Marie on the other end. "Listen. I found something that you need to see."

Yu shook his head. "I can't right now. We're having a family dinner. Do you think that I could come by-!"

"Forget about that," interrupted Marie, sounding impatient. "I'm telling you, this is important. You need to come, now. It's about that girl we were talking about today. Okay? So, I'll see you in a few minutes."

Marie hung up, leaving Yu still holding on to the phone.

"Who was that?" asked Chie, raising an eyebrow. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. I think so." Yu sighed. "That was Marie. She wants me to come to the police station. Something's wrong."

"Oh. Well…then, let's go!" Chie dropped a dish enthusiastically back into the sink. "We can finish up when we get back, right? I mean, it's not like they're gonna start smelling up the kitchen or anything in the next couple of hours…I think."

Yu couldn't really argue with that. Besides, curiosity was beginning to get the best of him. Together, he and Chie piled into his car, and set off for the TV station.

"So…is Marie-chan still mad?" asked Chie, while they were stopped at a light.

"Mad?" asked Yu. "What would she be mad about?"

Chie gave him a look, which told him very clearly not to play dumb. "You know, about…about our getting married. I know that she sort of liked you, and all…and I feel bad about making her sad, but…"

"Yes," admitted Yu. "I think she's still a little mad."

Chie took a deep breath. "Oh well. Maybe I should talk to her. Do you think that would help?"

Chie didn't sound to enthusiastic about it. "No," replied Yu quickly. "I don't think it would help. I think it would probably make things worse.

"Right. Okay. Then…I guess I'll leave it up to you!" Chie sounded relieved. Yu got the sense that she hadn't been in love with the idea of trying to talk it out with Marie in the first place.

Marie was waiting for them out on the front steps, looking annoyed. "You took way too long," she snapped, as Chie and Yu got out of the car. "I've been waiting forever."

"We…don't live that close," murmured Chie. "It's a long drive…"

Marie ignored her. She led them back through the station hallway until they reached the staircase. "After you left," she told Yu, "I followed that girl we were talking about. Soto, or Moto, or something. She didn't leave the station when it was time for work to be over, and that was weird, so I hung around after everyone else had left and waited for her to do something. It got pretty boring." She gave Yu an accusing look, as though that was somehow his fault.

"Wait, what" Chie was lost. "Followed who? Are you talking about Suzume-san, Yosuke's friend?"

"Yeah, sure, that's the one," muttered Marie dismissively. "Anyway, so she waited until the building was totally empty, and then she went into the basement. I followed her there, and I found her hanging out in one of the storage rooms. There was stuff everywhere; it was a big mess. I locked her in there so she wouldn't be able to get away, and then I called you."

Yu winced. "You didn't have to do that," he told Marie.

Chie's eyes were wide. "You locked her in the basement? Wh-why?"

Marie shrugged. "I figured you'd want to see her. What? That was the easiest way."

By this time, they'd reached a closed door at the bottom of the stairs. Marie took out a key, and fiddled with it in the lock for a few seconds. The door eventually swung open, revealing, just as Marie had said, a huge mess. There were piles of dull old clothing on the floor, and plastic dishes sitting in little circles in the corners. In the middle of it all was Suzume, kneeling on a pile of what looked like blankets and staring at the door. She looked started when she saw Yu and Chie.

"You?" she asked. "But…why?"

Yu shook his head. "I could ask you the same question."

Suzume's eyes narrowed slightly. "I'm not doing anything wrong," she murmured defensively, but without much conviction. "You…you have no right…"

"Oh my god," whispered Chie, staring around at the things on the floor. "Suzume-san…"

"So?" Marie raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing here, then? If you're not doing anything wrong, then why'd you tell Yu that you worked here? I know you don't work here. I work here, and I know everybody else who does. So, why did you lie? Lying is 'doing something wrong' you know."

"I…" Suzume seemed to be at a loss. "No, I didn't…it's not like that. I didn't want to lie, I just…"

Based on the state of the room and on Suzume's confusion, Yu hazarded a guess as to what was really going on. "Do you live here?" he asked.

Suzume stared at the floor. Then she nodded slowly. "Yes."

"Huh?" Marie looked surprise. "Um…no, you don't. This isn't a house. Don't you have a home to go to?"

This time, Suzume shook her head. "No." There was something so defeated in the way she said it, and in the way that she wouldn't meet anyone's eyes. It made Yu uncomfortable, as though he was the transgressor here, even if he knew that Suzume was, essentially, breaking a number of laws.

"Well, you can't stay here," continued Marie, unperturbed. "This isn't a place to stay. It's a TV station. You'll have to have find somewhere else to live."

"No!" Suddenly, Suzume was on her feet. "No, please, don't make me leave. I don't have anywhere else to go. This is my place. I made it. I've been here for months. I'm not bothering anyone! And, I work here. I clean up a little bit after everyone leaves for the day. I pick up trash, and I…I help! I'm not…I'm not going." She was apparently doing her best to look defiant, although all she really managed was to look scared.

"You've been here for months? You poor thing. Don't you have any family? Where'd you come from?" Chie had moved over to Suzume's side, and was now standing in between her and Marie.

"It doesn't matter." Suzume was looking at the ground again. "There isn't anybody else. There's no family. I came here because I...I thought maybe I could be on TV. Miss Kusumi, I've been watching your program since you started years ago. I'm a big fan. I wanted to be on TV, like you, because I know that I don't have a lot of confidence, and I thought that maybe if I could get into entertainment, it would help me learn how to…how to like myself a little more. You're always so confident on TV. You're…I'm a big fan." She frowned, and tried to meet Marie's eyes, although Marie's deadpan stare apparently threw Suzume off, and she went back to gazing at her feet. "I thought maybe they'd give me a job, here. Maybe someday…"

"A…fan?" Marie did not seem impressed. "Why? All I do is say what the weather is. It's no big deal."

Suzume didn't have any response to that. She just shook her head. "I'm staying here," she said quietly. "I…I have to stay here. These are all my things. This is my place."

Yu opened his mouth to say something, but Chie intervened before he had the chance. "Oh no you aren't, missy," announced Chie. "There's no way we're leaving you here. It's gonna get cold soon, and what if they turn off the heat when no one's around? You could freeze. It's not safe."

Suzume grabbed up the blanket she was using, and held it protectively against her chest. "But I-!"

Chie reached down and picked up another blanket. She wrinkled her nose, as she came, apparently, into contact with a smell she didn't like. "Come on. We're going home. Um, back to my house, I mean. You can stay on the couch until we figure out what to do next, okay? Yu-kun, help me with this stuff."

"But…Chie," began Yu.

Chie gave Yu one of her most defiant looks. Yu found himself struggling not to smile.

"She's coming with us," Chie informed him in no uncertain terms. "Are you going to help me, or not?"

"Huh." Marie gave Chie a long look." That's right, I forgot. You're the one they call 'the beast,' right? You like to be in charge."

Chie ignored her. Yu had to give his wife some credit for that.

**Chapter 82: Chapter Eighty: Hunch**

**Chapter Eighty: Hunch**

By the time Yu, Chie, and Suzume got back home, Togoshi and Yanase were already putting on their jackets and preparing to leave.

"Thank you so much for inviting us," said Yanase, giving Dojima a little bow. "Dinner was wonderful."

"Yeah." Dojima smiled. "It's nice to have the company. Livens the place up a bit."

"Huh?" whispered Chie into Yu's ear. "Well, what are we, then? Chopped liver? Oh well." Yu noted that Chie did not quite have the courage to say anything like that aloud where Dojima would be able to hear.

"Please, come again sometime," suggested Nanako.

"Yeah, will do." Togoshi grinned at her. "You keep being good to your Dad, okay? Don't let him work too hard."

As they opened the door and stepped out into the evening, Yu heard Yanase murmur, "You're one to talk…aren't we going back to the station? That could be called 'working too hard.'"

"We are not going back to the station," Togoshi corrected her. "I am. You are going home, rookie."

"I'm not-!" began Yanase. Togoshi closed the door on the rest of their talk, cutting her off.

"Thanks for helping out with dinner," said Dojima, turning to Chie and Yu. Then he frowned, apparently noticing the cowering Suzume for the first time. "Uh…I don't think we've met."

Suzume stared at her feet. Chie glanced at Yu, who recognized that it was his turn to step up. "This is Suzume Moto," he told Dojima. "Suzume, this is my uncle, Detective Dojima."

"Uh huh. Nice to meet you." Dojima was giving Suzume a suspicious look. _Then again, _thought Yu, _that's pretty much the same look he gives anybody he meets for the first time._

"Suzume-san!" Nanako looked alarmed. "What's wrong?" She hurried over to Suzume side. "What happened, Big Bro? Is Suzume-san okay?"

That got Dojima's attention. "You know her, Nanako?"

Nanako nodded. "Yes. Um, she's my friend…our friend."

"I see." Dojima nodded.

"Um, Uncle Dojima." Yu mentally steeled himself to ask for something that he wasn't entirely sure he deserved to get. "Suzume's having some trouble at home. She doesn't have a place to stay tonight, and I was hoping-!"

"Can't she stay here for a couple of days?" broke in Chie. "Please, Dojima-san? She doesn't have anywhere else to go, and it's cold outside. We don't want to leave her all on her own."

Dojima gave Suzume a long, hard look. Then he glanced at Nanako, who was also pleading with her eyes.

"Well," he sighed. "I don't see why not. All we've got is the couch, though. You look old enough to be an independent, so I'm not gonna ask questions. Still, it can't be forever. We don't have the space. You'll need to figure out another arrangement by the end of the week. Does that seem fair?"

_More than just fair, _thought Yu, genuinely surprised.

Chie looked delighted. "Thank you so much, Dojima-san! You're…you're a great man."

"Thank you," murmured Suzume, still not sounding too happy.

Dojima rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "'Great man,' huh? Well, I don't know about that. Anyway, I'm going to bed. Get some sleep, you four. Night."

As Dojima disappeared into the stairwell, Yu looked over at Nanako, who shrugged.

"Dad's in a good mood," she told him. "It makes a difference."

"No kidding!" Chie pumped one fist into the air enthusiastically. "See, Suzume-san? Everything's going to be okay, now."

Suzume did not look as though she felt that everything was going to be okay. She did not look delighted at all. She just looked nervous and unsettled.

**The next day, at the police station…**

Dojima was typing away at his desk, trying not to be distracted by the sound of Yanase interviewing someone only a few feet away.

"So…you say you think you saw him in the shopping district?" asked Yanase. She sounded tired. There had been so many false alarms recently concerning this sort of thing that Dojima couldn't blame her.

"Yeah." The guy she was talking to was tall, probably around the same age as Yu and his friends. He was American, which was kind of strange, considering that Inaba had never been much of a tourist town. He had short brown hair and a grey and black jacket, and there was a confident look in his eyes that told Dojima the kid thought he knew what he was talking about, at least. "I'm sure I saw him. I'm not making it up. He was hanging out behind Junes after hours. It was definitely him. I-!"

"Yes, Mr. Waldo, you've said." Yanase let out a little sigh. "But…may I ask you what you were doing behind Junes after closing time?"

For a moment the American kid looked slightly taken aback. Then he gritted his teeth, clearly frustrated. "Uh," he muttered, apparently at a loss. Then he said something inaudible, that sounded as though it might have been "Amagi." Dojima shook his head.

"I don't get it…" Togoshi was mumbling to himself from his seat at what had once been Taiga's desk. "Why the hell would he? Doesn't make any damn sense…"

Dojima got up and headed over in Togoshi's direction. "What doesn't make sense?" he asked. "Did you find something?"

Togoshi glanced up at Dojima, and shook his head. There were lines of irritation and sleep-deprivation clustered around his eyes. "It's just not coming together," he muttered. "None of what I'm getting from the chief makes him out to be the kind of guy who'd off himself like he did. I mean…look at this." He swept one big-fingered hand across the desk, gesturing to the neatly stacked piles of paper, each clipped and labeled with a series of printed notes. "He was organized. He had his shit together. And look, the notes I'm talking about." Togoshi picked up one of the top sheets of paper, and handed it to Dojima. Dojima ran his eyes over it.

_4:15 AM, _read the first line. _Possibly Adachi sighting in Okina City. Reported by fifteen year old high school student, known by his peers for tall stories and a record of theft. Potentially unreliable. Further investigation required._

"You see what I mean?" Togoshi was watching Dojima expectantly. "Guy was practical. Didn't jump to conclusions. He got the information, checked it out, stated his opinion, and then had the damn thing investigated anyway, just in case. Normally people who kill themselves are a mess. They freak out, they panic, and they're emotional. Taiga wasn't that kind. He had it all under control. That just doesn't feel right." He looked frustrated.

"Sometimes people act out of character," muttered Dojima darkly. "the chief was…under a ton of stress."

Togoshi blew out a long breath. "I'm not gonna say it like I'm sure, or anything," he said after a second. "But look, I don't think he killed himself."

Dojima tried not to let himself react to that. He had never been particularly interested in psychological profiling or speculation of that sort, but something about the firm, rational tone of Togoshi's voice made him uneasy. Usually people who went on about psychological reasons for crimes had big dorky glasses on and hadn't left their mother's basement in at least a decade. Togoshi wasn't like that. He was one of Dojima's kind, and he was serious about this.

"It's just a hunch," repeated Togoshi. "But…"

"We'll have to look into it," said Dojima. "It's…worth considering the possibility."

_And that possibility opens up a whole new level of hell for us, _he realized, as Togoshi returned to his work. _If he's right, and somebody else offed the chief, then…_

The only person who came to mind, of course, was Adachi. Dojima's skin went cold.

"Crap," he muttered.

**Meanwhile, at Junes…**

Yu, Chie, Yukiko, and Yosuke were hanging out at their accustomed spot in the food court. Suzume sat with them, an alarming amount of food piled up in front of her. She kept poking at it with her plastic fork, looking slightly dazed and none too hungry.

"Aren't you going to eat?" asked Chie. "It's good stuff, I promise, even if it does come from Junes."

"Yeah, it-hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Yosuke scowled at Chie. "Anyway, have as much as you want. It's on me, today, okay?"

"Um.." Suzume bit her lip. "Forgive me, but…I don't understand. Why are you buying me food? And…why are you being so kind to me? I don't really know you. We're not the same. We're not even friends. You don't have to-!"

"What are you talking about?" Yosuke waved that away with one hand. "Of course we're friends. You came to hang out with us the other day at Yu's house, right?"

Suzume made a face. "I don't think that went over very well. It wasn't an excellent first impression."

"Well," mumbled Chie, so that only Yu could hear, "that's true, but…"

"Any friend of Yosuke's is a friend of mine," added Yu, doing his best to sound like he really meant it.

"Right?" Yosuke beamed at Yu. "And hey, we don't have to agree about everything, right? That doesn't mean we can't be friends. Friends disagree on lots of things. Like Chie and I. We're always arguing about something."

"Yes." Yukiko giggled. "They really are…it's sweet."

Yu, Chie, and Yosuke all gave Yukiko strange looks. _I don't understand exactly what's "sweet" about their arguments, _thought Yu, _but I suppose Yosuke has a point that disagreements shouldn't get in the way of true friendship. Still, she doesn't seem as though she really wants to be included. He's trying too hard. It's…a little sad._

"Remember what you said, at the party?" continued Yosuke. "You know, about how it's important not to forget about people?"

Suzume nodded.

"Well, we can't just forget about you." Yosuke shrugged. "You're in a tough spot, so, we're here to help out."

"Yosuke-kun," murmured Suzume. "You're…"

She didn't finish the sentence, but Yosuke didn't seem to care. Whatever he was expecting her to say, he was taking it as a compliment, and he beamed, boldly placing one arm around her shoulders as he began saying something about the way they'd recently updated the menu, and how she could rely on him to make sure that she got the best stuff Junes could offer.

"Oh boy," sighed Chie. "He really is hopeless."

"But he's right," countered Yukiko. "We can't just forget about her. I'd worry if we left her alone. Do we know what she's going to do at the end of the week? You said that Dojima-san isn't going to let her stay forever…"

"Let's try to take it one step at a time," Yu suggested. Yukiko frowned, but nodded. Just as she was opening her mouth to say something, Yu's phone rang. "One second." He answered it, stepping a few paces away from the rest of the chattering group. "Hello?"

"Is this Mr. Yu Narukami?" asked an unfamiliar voice on the other end of the line.

"Yes, that's me," agreed Yu.

"Oh, good." The voice sounded relieved. "My name is Hina Hosoi…I don't think we've spoken before. Um, I work in the Vice Principal's office at Yasogami High, but she's out for the day. I'm glad I got in touch with you, the papers here are all a mess. Oh." She cleared her throat audibly. "Yasogami High School is delighted to offer you the position of English teacher for the second and third year students, effective immediately."

Yu took a deep breath. _Yes, _he thought, clenching both fists against an onslaught of enthusiasm._ I needed this…_

"Mr. Narukami?" Ms. Hosoi sounded uncertain. "You…are going to accept the position, aren't you?"

"I'd like that very much," said Yu quickly. "Thank you. I'm looking forward to working with you."

When he hung up the phone and returned to the table, he found that Suzume had grudgingly started eating at least around an edge of what was on her plate. Yosuke was sitting beside her, proudly look on.

"I got the job," Yu told Chie.

Chie's eyes widened. "The job at Yasogami? Wait, really?"

"Huh?" Yosuke looked up. "Whoa, hang on, you're gonna be a teacher at our old high school? Jeez, I don't know if I should be happy for you or not. But, uh, congrats, man. I guess that's way better than nothing, right?"

"Congratulations!" echoed Yukiko. "Oh, we'll want to celebrate, of course. Um, if you like, that the inn's pretty empty this evening. We'd probably have the hot springs mostly to ourselves."

Yosuke threw up his hands. "Oh man…first Yu's going back to high school, and now we're having another hot springs party? Boy, this sure brings back memories…not all of them good." He sighed. "Sure, I'm in. How about you, Suzume?"

"Me?" asked Suzume. "At…the hot springs?"

"She's coming." Yukiko nodded. "At least that way she won't have to sleep on the couch all night."

"Hey," mumbled Chie defensively, "we've got a pretty nice couch, you know…"

**Author's End Note: **Did you guys catch the cameo by the American character at the beginning of this chapter? That was Charles Waldo, an OC from the fantastic fanfiction story **Persona 4: I Don't Belong Here** by **JustCharles**. It's a wonderful story with well-written characters, and if you haven't checked it out yet, you should! Be sure to let me know what you think, when you're done. It's one of my favorites.

**Chapter 83: Chapter Eighty One: The Party's Over**

**Author's Note: **Ugh, someone really has to remind me not to go back and read over old chapters of the story. As soon as I read them, I hate them. Let's just…let's just move on quickly, shall we?

Anyway, here's a short, character development chapter for tonight. Next week and the following week I have a series of ugly final papers, so you may not hear from me as regularly as usual. Rest assured, though, I've got funs tuff planned, so if you bear with me I'll try to make it worth your while.

**Chapter Eighty One: The Party's Over**

Ever since the girl with the short blond hair had left, Margaret had been acting strangely edgy. She hadn't said anything to Adachi about it, of course, but what really surprised Adachi was that, as far as he knew, Margaret hadn't said a word about it to Igor, either. Adachi was around the two of them so often that he was sure he'd have heard if they'd discussed the visitor, and Margaret hadn't even mentioned that she'd come by. That was suspicious enough in itself to get Adachi's attention.

_After all, _he thought, _isn't it her job to keep him in the loop. She's always calling him "master" and fawning over him, and doing whatever the hell he tells her. That's her "duty" or something. If there's something she's keeping to herself, it's probably a pretty big deal._

Still, he didn't bother asking. For one thing, there was no way that she was going to spill the beans to him, especially if she was keeping secrets even from her precious "Master." For another, it was probably going to be a lot more interesting to watch how things played out on their own. It gave Adachi something to think about, at least.

As he was turning all of that over in his mind, the door to the Velvet Room creaked open, and Nanako walked through holding a large dish filled with something that smelled vaguely re-heated.

"Come on…" Adachi rolled his eyes. "Give me a break…can't I have one night off? I've been a model trainee, right? So? How about a vacation?"

Nanako frowned. "Oh…I'm not here for training. I brought leftovers."

She held out the plate to him, looking slightly hurt, and Adachi instantly felt like crap. "Uh, oh. I, uh, didn't know. That's nice of you, Nanako-chan."

She came and sat down next to him, placing the plate in between them. Now that it was close enough, Adachi could see that it was heaped with curry, which he didn't exactly love.

"We had a family dinner," Nanako explained "Big Bro cooked, and Dad had some friends over from work. We made too much, so…I thought you might be hungry. No one cooks for you, here."

_No one cooks for me anywhere, _thought Adachi. Briefly, he contemplated refusing the curry, especially since he didn't get all that hungry while he was camped out in the Velvet Room. Nanako, though, was watching him expectantly, and he realized that there wasn't much chance of him getting away with not eating it. Reluctantly, he used the plastic fork she'd brought to shovel a bite into his mouth.

"It's good, right?" she smiled. "Big Bro's a good cook. I remember he cooked for you before, too."

"Shoe," mumbled Adachi, around a mouthful of curry.

Nanako narrowed her eyes. "Um…are you ever going to drop that?"

Adachi pretended to think about that for a minute. "Yeah…nope. Don't think so." He grinned at her obvious frustration. "Yeah, you're right, this stuff's not bad. You want some?"

Nanako shook her head. "No thank you. It's for you."

_That's what I was afraid of, _thought Adachi. _Well, shit. _For a few moments, he ate in stoic silence.

"I wish you could come to family dinners," said Nanako eventually.

Adachi put the fork down, and sighed. "Yeah, I think we've been through this like, what, ten times?" He shook his head. "That shit is over. You gotta let it go. Seriously."

"But you're doing better," insisted Nanako. "You're doing a lot better. I noticed, I told you!"

Adachi turned around and looked her full in the face. "You know," he muttered, "sometimes, I'm really not sure just how brain dead you are. I'm 'doing better,' right? You mean, I haven't killed anybody just recently?"

Nanako flushed. "Y-yeah…well, you haven't."

"Yeah? Sure, okay. So, I haven't killed anybody in, what, a month? Is that all it takes? You planning on starting a rehabilitation program and sticking me back out into society again? What's the endgame here, anyway? Because I'm not really seeing where you're trying to go with this."

"Um…" Nanako didn't say anything. She stared at the plastic fork unhappily. Adachi took a deep breath.

"Hey," he said, just a bit more gently. "Look. What do you think is gonna happen when this is all over? When you and your brother get whatever's killing people under control? You think I'm just gonna get to walk away? You're not being realistic. Either I stick here for god knows how long, maybe forever, or I go back to jail, definitely forever. Those are the options. There's nothing else. You get that?"

"But there should be." Nanako was quiet, but adamant. "You're saving the world. That means something."

"Tch, doesn't mean shit. Anyway, it's not like I'm doing it because I want to be." Adachi shook his head.

"But-!" began Nanako again.

Adachi held up a hand to cut her off. "You think you can honestly say that if I walked out of here tomorrow, that would be okay? The world would be a safe place? It wouldn't be some kind of mistake? You wanna vouch for that?"

"Yes." She didn't even have to think about it. "I would. I do. I think you're getting better. I think-!"

Adachi could feel something inside him stirring restlessly, laughing at him as he rolled his eyes at Nanako's disturbingly unconditional faith. He fought it back down to the best of his ability, and then took a deep breath. "I think you're delusional. Here, have some of this curry. I can't finish it. I don't even like curry."

He pushed the place across to her, and she looked at it.

"But…you already ate most of it," she informed him. "Why did you eat it if you don't like it?"

_She's got a point there, _realized Adachi. He laughed a mirthless little laugh. "You remember what I told you the other day, about love making you do shit you hate doing?"

Nanako scooted a little closer to him on the floor. "I'll bring something different next time," she promised.

"Don't worry about it." Adachi sighed. "Whatever. It's fine."

**Meanwhile, at the Amagi Inn…**

"This," announced Yosuke, relaxing in the hot springs, "has been a long time coming."

He, Yu, Kanji, and Teddie were taking their turn in the baths while the girls hung out in another room. Yu wasn't entirely certain that he knew what the girls were up to, but it probably involved gossip, mischief, and general giggling. He was perfectly happy to remain ignorant of the mysteries of "girl talk."

"Am I right, partner?" Yosuke looked over at him. "I mean…ten years is a long time."

Yu raised an eyebrow. "You mean, you've never used the hot springs here, before?"

"Uh…well, no, actually." Yosuke frowned. "It's just not the same, you know? I mean…wouldn't have been much fun without the rest of you guys."

"I would have come with you!" said Teddie." I love hot springs! We could have come here together any time!"

"Right." Yosuke rolled his eyes. "That's…that's not what I meant."

Kanji, a few feet away from them, looked like he was thinking hard. "Uh…what do you guys think the girls are doing?"

"No idea," replied Yu.

"Nothing good," agreed Yosuke.

Teddie sighed dramatically. "I wish they could be here with us. It would be so much better if we could be all together again…"

"Again?" Yosuke shook his head. "What are you talking about? We've never all had a bath together before. That would be…uh…" He went a little bit red. "Anyway, there's no 'again' about it. Stop being such a perv."

"But," insisted Teddie, "Kanji was hoping for that too, weren't you, Kanji?"

Unexpectedly, Kanji didn't get angry. Maybe he was too lost in thought. "Uh, yeah, sorta. I mean…I was just wondering…what's Naoto gonna do when this is all over? Like, when we catch the guy? Cause we're gonna catch him, right? And when we do, and all this shit is over with…she's gonna go back to the city." He looked a little depressed about it.

"Oh, right…" Yosuke frowned. "And Rise, too. She's probably gonna go back on tour once this is all over. Who knows when she'll get a chance to come and visit again. I see what you mean…"

"That's…that's so sad…" Teddie was starting to tear up a little bit. "I don't wanna take a bath anymore. Let's go play with Rise-chan and Nao-chan!"

"Might…not be such a bad idea," mumbled Kanji, more to himself than to Teddie or the others. "After all, if this is it, then…"

"Hey," said Yu, a little more loudly than he'd meant to. "We're getting ahead of ourselves. There's no reason to believe that we're any closer to solving this mystery than we were at the beginning."

"Yeah," agreed Yosuke. "That's true, but…it's not really what we were talking about. Um, it's just that, when it is over, whenever that is, we're gonna go back to the way we were."

"Well be all scattered," sighed Teddie. "Just like before."

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that part of my doesn't even really want to solve this mystery." Yosuke wasn't meeting anyone's eyes. "Of course I don't want anybody else to die…I mean, there's no way we can let that happen. But, still…"

The atmosphere in the baths was suddenly much heavier than it had been moments before. _I understand, _thought Yu. _I know what they mean. Recently, it's been just like old times. That's scary, and difficult, but…it feels right, like it's what we were always supposed to be doing. Without the mysteries and the murders, can we really keep it together? Is it like Teddie says, and we're all going to fall apart and go our separate ways, again? I don't want to believe that._

"I'm not going anywhere," he remarked. "Neither is Chie. We've come to stay."

Teddie perked up a little bit." That's right! And now you're going to be a teacher. Maybe I should try being a student, again."

Kanji snorted a laugh. "Seriously, man…no one is going to believe that. You've been in this town for years. There's no way anybody's gonna let you pass for a high school student after knowing you all that time, even if you do still pretty much look like a kid."

Teddie looked outraged. "How rude! I don't look like a kid. I've been working on growing stubble, just like you, Kanji!"

Kanji's hand went instantly to his chin. Then it was Yosuke's turn to laugh. The tension began to release, and things began to lighten up a bit. As Teddie playfully splashed Kanji with water, and then went down under Kanji's tsunami-like counterattack, Yu caught Yosuke frowning dejectedly at the door leading to the rest of the Inn.

**Chapter 84: Chapter Eighty Two: Back You Up**

**Author's Note: **Another short character work chapter for tonight. I wanted to write more, but I have to get some sleep to prepare for the rest of my exams.

This part of the story is rapidly coming to what I hope will be a dramatic and exciting close. We'll soon learn what the investigation team is going to do about housing Suzume, Togoshi will make a major break in the case, Yu will finally face his true self, and yes, I promise, we will meet the story's ultimate villain. All this and more coming in the next several chapters. In the meantime, goodnight, and thanks as always for taking the time to read!

**Chapter Eighty Two: Back You Up**

While the guys hung out in the hot springs, the girls were having a pajama party upstairs. At the moment, Chie, Rise, and Yukiko were comparing sizes to see which of them had an extra pair that would be the best fit for Suzume. Nanako didn't think that Suzume looked too happy about it…but then again, Suzume hadn't looked happy at all ever since they'd brought her back from the TV station.

"Come on, can't we have just a teensy weensy hint?" coaxed Rise. "You don't look that big. You can't be that much bigger than me, although I think your chest measurement is a little bit smaller…"

"Rise-san, that's not something you can just come out and say to people," admonished Chie, frowning at Yukiko, who was gazing down bashfully at her own admittedly "modest" chest. "I get that its' something you can talk about in show business, or whatever, but…"

"Oh, I know!" Rise apparently wasn't listening. "Hey, what if we give her a pair of my pajama bottoms, and one of Yukiko-senpai's tops? That should work, right?"

"Please." Naoto shook her head, and stepped quietly over to Suzume's side. "I think we…may be over doing it."

"Yeah," agreed Nanako. "Suzume-san looks kind of scared."

Suzume shook her head weakly. "I'm fine…really. It's not…I don't need to borrow anything. I can sleep in my clothes. I always do."

"Ew." Rise made a face. "Wait, you don't smell like you sleep in your clothes. Where do you do your laundry?"

While Chie and Rise began arguing about the best methods for mixing home-made laundry detergent, Yukiko placed a hand on Nanako's shoulder. "Do you remember when we used to swim here together, Nanako-chan? We haven't been here since you were at least ten. Then again, I suppose you must be too old for swimming, now." Yukiko was smiling, a little bit sadly, in a sort of motherly way that took Nanako by surprise.

"I…I like to swim, still," she admitted. "Last year, for our school trip, we visited this big private school on Tatsumi Port Island that has its own swim team and pool! I wish we had a swimming pool like that."

Chie and Yukiko exchanged a knowing look. "Wait, they're still taking the students there?" Chie sighed. "After all these years, you think they'd have found somewhere more interesting to go for a field trip. Oh well…"

"Oh!" Yukiko's eyes widened. "Wait, Nanako-chan, which hotel did you stay in? It wasn't…I mean, it was just a normal hotel, right?"

"Wait, you don't mean…?" Chie shuddered." Oh come on, I don't even want to think about Nanako staying at a place like that. No way…she's so innocent!"

Nanako bristled. "I'm not that innocent, you know."

Suddenly, all eyes were on Nanako. Rise, Chie, Yukiko, and even Naoto were watching Nanako expectantly, with startled concern stamped all over their faces.

"You aren't?" Naoto frowned. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Oh my god," gasped Chie. "Hang on, have you already had a boyfriend? Whoa, there's no way Dojima-san would be okay with that. I'm not even sure I'm okay with that! How'd you keep it a secret? Does Yu know? He hasn't said anything…."

"Wha-what?" Nanako went bright red. "No! I've never had a boyfriend. I don't want a boyfriend. That's not what I meant at all!"

Yukiko exhaled in relief. Chie looked a little disappointed. "Oh. Well, that's good, haha…um, at least Teddie will be happy."

Nanako did not want to talk about Teddie. She did not even want to think about Teddie in those terms. It made her uncomfortable, especially now that she was remembering the enthusiasm that had been shining out of every pore in his face when she'd grudgingly agreed to go on a date with him. She squirmed inwardly.

"What about you, Suzume-san?" asked Rise, a mischievous look in her eyes. "Have you ever had a boyfriend? Oh, how old are you, anyway? With some girls, it's really hard to tell. You look like you're probably around our age."

_She's had a boyfriend before, _remembered Nanako. _Actually, Suzume-san's had lots of boyfriends. We talked about it that day at Junes. It doesn't sound like she liked having boyfriends, though. Maybe she won't want to talk about it…_

"And what about Yosuke?" Yukiko didn't seem very interested in Suzume's past dating history. "Do you think you could ever go out with him?"

"Hey, Yukiko!" Chie nudged Yukiko hard in the ribs, and Yukiko gasped.

"Oh, no," she insisted hastily, "he hasn't asked me about it, or anything. N-nothing like that. I was just curious…"

"Senpai…" Naoto didn't look happy. "That is a very personal question. Suzume-san, you certainly do not have to answer if you-!"

"I couldn't date Yosuke," murmured Suzume. "I couldn't date anyone. I don't like dating, much. It's not…very pleasant. It feels terrible. Nothing ever goes right. I'm not interested in dating."

Yukiko and Chie exchanged a thoughtful look. "Oh," said Yukiko. "I…I see."

"So you have dated before," remarked Chie. "Uh, sorry to hear that had a bad time. Actually, Yu-kun was the first guy I ever went out with, so…I don't know much about what that's like. He's a pretty good guy." She smiled a bit sheepishly, and looked anywhere but at Rise.

"Well," retorted Rise, "I've date d lots of guys, so I kinda know what you mean, Suzume-san. Still…isn't dating a little exciting? I mean, yeah, it can be a pain sometimes, and sometimes guys can be really rude, or even mean, but at the beginning, isn't it kind of cool and fun to get those butterflies in your stomach and to spend time dressing up for the first date? It's nice to have something to look forward to!"

"I…I don't know." Suzume looked lost. "I'm not sure. I've never…I don't know what that's like."

"What? You mean, you never looked forward to seeing a guy?" Rise was startled. "Okay, so maybe you just didn't' go out with the right guy. If you two didn't have that spark to begin with, then there's no way it could have worked out."

Naoto cleared her throat. "I had no idea that you were such an expert on the subject, Rise-san." There was something vaguely amused in her voice that made Rise shoot her a defensive look. Naoto was polite enough to leave it at that.

"Well, anyway," murmured Yukiko, "I think Yosuke's a wonderful person. He can be…well, difficult sometimes."

"Yeah," agreed Chie. "Pretty much all the time. Oh, but he's got a good heart! Yeah, he really cares about people. He cares about Teddie a ton, even though he'll never say it."

"And he's loyal." Yukiko was nodding encouragingly. "He's devoted to Yu-kun. Those two would do anything for each other. Well…so would any of us."

For a moment, Naoto, Chie, Rise, and Yukiko all stood proudly smiling at each other, lost in their own little world. Nanako felt strangely and suddenly lonely, and she moved instinctively a bit closer to Suzume.

"So," said Rise finally, "if you were interested in Yosuke-senpai…we would totally back you up."

"Absolutely," added Yukiko. "In a second! I think it's a wonderful idea."

Suzume gave Nanako a slightly panicked look. Nanako couldn't blame her.

"Um," began Nanako, attempting to change the subject, "when do we get to use the hot springs? The boys should be done soon, right?"

**Meanwhile, at the police station…**

Dojima stepped into the station only a couple of hours before midnight, and nodded at the two security guards who were trying not to fall asleep on the job on either side of the double front doors.

"Huh," muttered one of the guards. "Was wondering when you'd show up."

Dojima narrowed his eyes. "What? What's that supposed to mean?"

The guard jerked a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the desk spaces. "That one guys' been here for hours, just sitting there typing away. Sound's starting to get on my nerves; it's usually pretty quiet around here this time of night. Figured he was probably waiting for you. After all, you're the only one who's ever here this late. Stands to reason you'd have asked him to stick around to help you out with something."

Dojima hadn't asked anyone to stay and finish anything. "I forgot my jacket," he muttered, pushing past the guards. He already had a feeling that he knew who he'd see when he rounded the corner, and therefore he wasn't even a little bit surprised to find Togoshi still sitting at Taiga's desk, rubbing at his eyes and staring into the computer screen at what looked like a slideshow of old photographs.

"What are you still doing here?" demanded Dojima. Togoshi turned slowly around in his chair, and gave Dojima a lopsided sort of exhausted grin.

"Research," he muttered. "You know…my job. You said you wanted me to find out more about the chief, right?"

"No." Dojima shook his head. "I said I wanted you to figure out what he was working on, and what he would have wanted us to do with the case."

Dojima could see, now, that the photographs on the screen were all of Taiga and various other people, smiling and holding beers up to the camera, or lounging around on couch cushions at someone else's office party. One image of Taiga with a couple of very attractive looking younger women flashed across the screen. Dojima didn't feel like wasting time wondering about that one at the moment.

"Don't you want to know why he did it?" asked Togoshi. "Doesn't it bug you that we can't figure out what he wanted to take himself out of the picture for?"

Dojima gritted his teeth. "He was bent out of shape over Fujioka's death. He blamed himself, just like any of us would have if we'd been the one in charge. It was eating him up. He got stuck in feeling guilty and sorry for himself, and he took the easy way out. There's no mystery about it. It makes sense."

Togoshi shook his head in frustration, jabbing a finger at various photos as they flashed across the screen. "No, there's no way. That's not…look, he's a happy guy. He's got a good life. People like him. He, uh…he had a girlfriend. Some chick he'd met online. They were gonna go on vacation in February. Something dumb and romantic. They were-!"

"How do you know that?" demanded Dojima.

Togoshi shrugged. "It was in his email. It's all here; the whole pretty picture. He had the perfect life. Things were good. There was everything to live for. So, why the hell-?" A slightly crazed note of desperation began to creep its way into Togoshi's normally rational and level voice. It sent uncomfortable shivers down Dojima's spine.

"Go home," commanded Dojima. "You're overdoing it."

"Hey, look," began Togoshi. "I'm just trying to-!"

"Home." Dojima shook his head. "You look like a mess. You need sleep. Where's Yanase?"

"Hah. Who knows." Togoshi sighed. "Told her to go back to the hotel and get some sleep, but she's probably waiting up. Seems like something she'd do." Reluctantly, he switched off the computer and got to his feet. "Fine, have it your way. Maybe I am a little tired after all."

"See you in the morning," said Dojima, as Togoshi stretched, grabbed his jacket, and then headed for the doors.

"Yep," agreed Togoshi over his shoulder "See ya."

Just as he was about to leave the building, however, he turned around , frowned, and added, "Wait, what am I talking about? You better be coming with me. If I can't stay here and screw around with the computer all night, then I'll be damned if you're gonna get away with it."

Dojima chuckled. "I just came back to get my jacket," he insisted, following Togoshi out.

**Chapter 85: Chapter Eighty Three: First Lesson**

**Author's Note:**

Okay, so I owe you all an apology again for another long hiatus. I have a good excuse, and I'll give it to you, I promise, but I'll do that in my next author's note.

For now, here's another character development chapter to work us back into the plot. I'll be updating regularly from now on.

Also! I recently launched arimoriarty .com, where I'm housing some of my original fiction. Right now I'm working on a story called "Warmth," which I think many of you will enjoy. If you have a chance, please do go and check it out. Any feedback you might have would mean so much to me.

And now, on to the chapter!

**Chapter Eighty Three: First Lesson**

The next morning, after staying up late and getting no sleep with great friends at the Amagi Inn, Yu had to go in for his very first day of work at Yasogami High. He was tired, but very happy, and had done his best with Rise's home beauty remedies that morning to banish some of the sleepy circles from underneath his eyes.

Yasogami High School was still pretty much exactly the way Yu remembered it. The uniforms hadn't changed at all, and the students walking up and down the hallway, yawning hugely and talking about anything but school reminded Yu of his own, albeit brief days a student here. He hadn't spent much time thinking or talking about school back then either of course. He'd been too busy saving the world.

_I would have hated to be a teacher in my classroom back then, _he realized. _Half the time Yosuke, Chie, Yukiko and I were whispering or passing notes during class, not paying attention at all. It must have been very trying for Mr. Morooka. No wonder he picked on me. In a way, I deserved it, and I wasn't the only disobedient student in the classroom, either. It's really no surprise at all that he was hard on us._

Some of the students were moaning and groaning about exams, which Yu knew from Nanako were coming up at the end of the week. His predecessor had probably already taken care of writing most of the exam questions, since there was no way that Yu would have time to teach enough material in only a couple of days to fill up an entire English exam. He was hoping that the previous teacher had left behind a few lesson plans, too, so that Yu could help the students finish whatever unit they were currently supposed to be working on.

"Excuse me, um…are you the new English teacher? I'm supposed to…oh!"

Yu turned around, expecting to see someone he didn't recognize, presumably the same Ms. Hina Hosoi who he'd spoken to on the phone. Instead, he was surprised and pleased to see a small, startled-looking young woman with short dark hair and wide grey eyes.

"Ayane!" He grinned at her. "I wasn't expecting to see you here. It's been a long time."

Ayane Matsunaga flushed with pleasure. "Oh, senpai, you remember me! That's…that's very nice of you."

"Of course I remember you," replied Yu. "We had a good time together back in school. Are you still playing the trombone?"

Ayane shook her head quickly. "No…I'm not." She beamed at him. "I have my flute, now. I decided to spend the extra money and switch to the instrument I really wanted to play when I started my first year at college."

_I wonder if she still practices down by Samegawa, _thought Yu. "Then, do you work in the music department?"

"N-no." Again, Ayane shook her head. "I'm an administrative assistant in the school office." She must have seen the slightly disappointed look on Yu's face, because she added hastily, "Oh, but I play on the weekends with the Inaba Town Drama Company! Um…no, wait, that's not what it's called now. I think now we're the "Inaba Dramatic Society? That must be right."

_A drama company?_ Yu had never heard of such a thing. The town of Inaba didn't even have its own movie theater. The idea of it having a theater company was frankly ridiculous. Inaba barely had enough people to fill all the classes at Yasogami. "I'll have to come see you play sometime, then," he said, as smoothly as he could, hoping to cover his confusion.

"I'd like that very much." Ayane looked delighted. "I think the others would like it too. When I tell them you're here, they'll be so excited! Oh, but I need to show you to your classroom now. I got distracted…I'm sorry!"

_Some things, _thought Yu, following Ayane up into the stairwell, _never change about this place, apparently. I think I like that. It's good to be home._

As he passed up the stairs towards the second floor, Yu almost ran right into Nanako, who was trying to walk down the stairs with her face buried in a textbook. "Oh!" she murmured, glancing up briefly. "I'm sorry, I-!" Then, she stopped, blinked at Yu, and smiled. "Big Bro? That's right, today was your first day of school as a new teacher! Do you like it? Maybe it's not so nice with exams coming up…"

"I just got here," Yu informed her. "Ayane was about to show me where my classroom is."

"Ayane…" Nanako frowned. "Oh, Matsunaga-san? Do you and Big Bro know each other?"

Yu opened his mouth to remind Nanako that she'd met Ayane a couple of times back when he'd been a student at Yasogami, at the culture festival and several times on the street when they'd run into her while shopping. Once upon a time, Ayane h ad been very sensitive to people forgetting or overlooking her, but when he glanced over at her now, she shook her head.

"It was a long time ago, Nanako-chan," she said. "But, um, yes. Yu-senpai and I were friends in school." She hesitated on the word "friends," and glanced up into Yu's eyes uncertainly as though hoping he'd back her up.

Yu nodded. "That's right," he agreed. 'How's your studying going? Feeling better about the material?"

Nanako bit her lip. "Um…I should go. I have a free period…I'm going to the library. Good luck, Big Bro! Have a nice day, Miss Matsunaga!" With that, Nanako hurried away. Yu found himself feeling badly for her. He knew that panicked, pre-test feeling all too well.

"Ready, senpai?" asked Ayane. "Are you excited?"

"Of course," muttered Yu, trying to sound more confident than he suddenly felt, as the butterflies flited around inside his stomach. He was reminded all at once of the time that he and his friends had been preparing to get up on stage at Junes to play a concert at Rise's backup band. The feeling of apprehensive dread back then had been similar.

Senpai?" asked Ayane. She was looking at him strangely, and Yu realized that there must have been a queasy look on his face. Swallowing his nerves, he took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and prepared to enter the classroom.

_What would Kanji say here? _he asked himself. _A real brawl doesn't begin until your back's against the wall? Something like that…_

"Okay," he told Ayane. "Let's do this."

**Meanwhile in the TV world…**

Adachi was standing around outside the Velvet Room, waiting for Nanako. He wasn't sure exactly what time it was in the real world, but she'd insisted that she'd come by and keep him company after school.

_She'll probably bring her homework, _he thought. _She's studying for exams now, right? I hope she doesn't make me quiz her again…_

For some reason, the idea of tutoring Nanako didn't bother him as much as it would once have done. _Am I really that bored?_ he wondered. _Hell, I guess at this point any distraction's too good to pass up._

_Or maybe, _suggested a hesitant little voice in the back of his mind, _I'm starting to look forward to seeing her._

Adachi wasn't sure how he felt about that idea. It wasn't a concept that he was comfortable getting used to. In his life he'd found himself looking forward to very little, and the last thing that he could really remember getting genuinely excited about was watching for the next victim's face to appear on the midnight channel. That hadn't really been something he'd looked forward to, either. Rather than pleasurable anticipation, it had been more like morbid fascination. It had given him reason to wait, a chance to think "ooh, what did I get myself into this time," and to some extent, he'd been enthusiastic about it, but it wasn't as though he'd exactly enjoyed it. Enjoyment was too innocent a word for whatever he'd been feeling back then.

This, though, this was different. Thinking about Nanako coming by with her stupid curry and her reams of math homework didn't just give him something to wait for; it gave him something to want.

_Even back then, _he thought ruefully, remembering the times he'd spent eating dinner at the Dojima place, _I liked being the one who could make her smile. Even when high-and-mighty Dojima-san made her cry, I could cheer her up, right? I made her laugh with those stupid magic tricks. I was good at that, too._

Suddenly, Adachi was aware that he wasn't alone. Turning around, he saw Shadow Adachi watching him with a sneer on his face , tapping his foot impatiently.

"You're a selfish prick," said Shadow Adachi.

_Fuck, _thought Adachi. _Not this again._

"In the end, that's what it all comes down to, right?" Shadow Adachi sighed. "With you, it's always 'me, me, me. Who cares about the girl? Who cares about any of those stupid girls? It was never about Nanako. It was never about that whiny Saki Konishi kid, or the slutty announcer. It was always about you. None of them mattered worth shit. You just wanted to be 'good' at something. Right? Didn't matter what it was…or who it was."

Adachi wanted to deny that. He really did. It was getting harder and harder, though, lying to himself. _Waste of time, _he decided.

"You know all that stuff she said to you?" Shadow Adachi crouched down next to Adachi. "All that crap about starting over, and what's gonna happen next? Well, I think you and I both know what's gonna happen next. Nothing new. Nothing different. You're still the same selfish prick you were ten years ago. You're always gonna be that guy. You're always gonna want everything for yourself. Don't sweat it, right? It's only human. You're only human…like all the rest of those worthless sacks of shit. Me, I'm the good stuff. I'm the real thing. I'm what could make you great. Keep denying me, and you're gonna go back to being nothing. But hey, if you ever want to give being amazing again a try…I might consider it. You could ask. I might take you along for the ride…assuming you're not just gonna try and drag me down like you fucking always do. Think about it, huh? Together, we're pretty badass…and by together, I mean, you know, with me in charge. You're…kind of pathetic when you try to take control. Not that control's really the word I'm looking for, here…"

"No." Adachi shook his head. Something that Shadow Adachi had said was rattling around in Adachi's mind, distracting him from the taunts. "No way. How many times do I have to say it?"

_Good, _he thought, imagining Nanako's face. He remembered diving in front of her to protect her from his shadow, and frantically reading off equations from her textbook while he tried to keep her from passing out. She'd smiled at him, then, and it sure as hell wasn't the math that had made her smile. Nobody smiled at math. That wasn't…something that happened.

"I'm already good at something," muttered Adachi. "I don't need you anymore."

For once, Shadow Adachi flinched. "What the hell?" he asked.

"So get lost." Adachi turned away from his shadow again. "Or you're just gonna keep getting in my way."

Shadow Adachi didn't say anything. Adachi could feel the rising rage and frustration building in his soul, and knew that those feelings came from his shadow and not from him at all. He wasn't quite brave enough to risk a glance over his shoulder, but he could imagine the black, murderous look on Shadow Adachi's face. Then, something about the atmosphere changed, and Adachi felt heavy and dizzy as his shadow forced itself back in to a soul that didn't welcome it.

"Something I'm good at," he said again, shaking his head. "Yeah. Right. Maybe it is selfish. But…"

Nausea overtook him, and he doubled over holding his mouth with both hands.

_I hate this part, _he thought, closing his eyes.

**Chapter 86: Chapter Eighty Four: Acting Odd**

**Author's Note: **So…I've broken my promise to update more frequently again.

Life has been a little stressful lately, and I'm dealing with some unexpected personal stuff. I'm also in the midst of the second weekend of a show I've been rehearsing for a while. That's not really a good excuse, but it's the best I've got.

I promise to keep updating whenever possible. Someday very soon, I will go back to updating more regularly, but until then, please bear with me while I do my best to finish this story. I love this story and will certainly not abandon it…but it may take a little more time than I expected to get to the end.

For more of what I've been working on lately (albeit slowly,) check it .com.

Thank you so much for your patience, and here's another chapter (finally!)

**Chapter Eighty Four: Acting Odd**

Dojima was hunched over his desk, pouring over some old reports while Yanase sat next to him and looked on. Togoshi was yet again seated at Taiga's old desk, lost in reams of research, and Chie and Naoto were chatting over by the coffee machine. Dojima could just make out the strains of their conversation from where he was sitting.

"Is it just me?" Chie was asking, as Naoto brewed a cup of coffee, "or has Togoshi-san seemed kind of intense lately? Like, it's weird…he's really focused. He hasn't been making his usual jokes or anything."

"It's only to be expected," murmured Naoto. "Adachi-san has been at large for some considerable time, now. We are all beginning to worry that perhaps he will never be caught. You can't really be surprised that the atmosphere in the station has begun to change."

Chie shook her head. "No, that's, uh, that's not exactly what I meant. I mean, Dojima-san's always been kind of stiff, and even Yanase-san's sort of stapled to her desk, but Togoshi-san? He's usually so relaxed, and now, well, it's just weird, that's all."

"Hmm…" Naoto paused, then sighed. "Well, to be honest with you, senpai…I know what you mean. It does seem as though he has been behaving in a somewhat out of character fashion. Still, as I said, we are all a bit…tired."

"Yeah," agreed Chie. "Stress, I guess, can make you do weird stuff, right?"

"Yes," agreed Naoto, although something in her voice sounded a bit off. Dojima was just admitting to himself that he agreed with them both when a hand tapped him lightly on the shoulder, and he turned to see Yanase frowning at him.

"We're wasting our time," she told him.

"Huh?" Dojima raised an eyebrow at her. "What are you talking about?"

Yanase gestured unhappily at the paperwork in front of them. "All of this. We've been working on this for weeks, and we're not getting anywhere. We aren't making any progress at all. There has to be something else, something we haven't thought of. There has to be…"

Yanase was chewing on her lip, and Dojima was surprised by how uncharacteristically frustrated and annoyed she sounded. _I guess the stress is starting to get to all of us, _he decided. _We're all tired. We're all out of our depth. No wonder._

Yanase must have seen the startled look on his face, because she sighed, and shook her head. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I'm not…I didn't mean to speak to you that way, sir. I shouldn't-!"

"Its fine," interrupted Dojima. "I don't care about that. Forget it. What's gotten into you? You look like crap."

He realized too late how insensitive that comment was, but Yanase didn't seem to notice. "I'm sorry," she repeated. "I'm just…I'm worried about Juro."

_Huh, _thought Dojima. _You too? Good to know I'm not the only one. _They both stared at the back of Togoshi's head for a moment, while he obliviously hammered away at the keyboard.

"What the hell's he doing?" growled Dojima. "It's like the guy's possessed or something…he's been like this for days."

"He's looking for the key to the Taiga case," replied Yanase. "It's all he ever talks about. Juro is convinced that the chief was murdered. He insists that he has to convince you, and that he's going to find out what really happened."

"Convinced or not," muttered Dojima, "he needs some sleep. He's no good to us if he starts messing up cause he's fixating too much on this damn case. It's unhealthy."

For some reason, Yanase flashed Dojima a wan little smile. "He's a detective, sir," she said quietly. "He fixates, and nitpicks. He gets stuck. It's…something the two of you have in common, if you don't mind my saying so."

Dojima wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that. _She's…well, she's not wrong, _he decided. _Not that it's a good thing, of course. She's getting a little more confident, too. Never would have said something like that to me last week. Maybe working here's bringing her out of her shell a little bit. At least something good's coming out of this nightmare._

From somewhere near the coffeemaker, someone snorted a laugh. Dojima frowned at Chie, who was doing her best to look at anything but him.

"Not healthy," agreed Naoto under her breath.

"Yeah, that's for sure," agreed Chie. "Jeez…"

**Some time later, at the Dojima residence…**

Yu unlocked the door to his house, dragged himself in, and flopped over on the couch. He felt like he'd had all the life sucked out of him over the last few hours.

_So many students, _he thought exhaustedly. _So many questions…so much talking. I will never, never pass notes in a classroom ever again. _He silently apologized to Mr. Morooka, Mr. Hosoi, and even to the horrible Ms. Kashiwagi in his head, wondering if their first classroom experiences had been anything like as jarring as his.

"Um…hello," murmured Suzume from her seat at the kitchen table. "Are…you okay?"

Yu spun around, surprised. He'd completely forgotten about Suzume. "Yes, I'm fine," he assured her. "I'm just tired."

"Oh." Suzume frowned. "It didn't go well?"

Yu waved a dismissive hand at her. "As well as could be expected," he muttered. "What have you been doing all day?"

Suzume shrugged despondently. "I watched some TV," she told him. "I...actually, I watched a lot of TV. I'd like to go back to the station, Yu-san. Please…"

Yu shook his head. "I can't do that," he reminded her, for what must have been the tenth or twentieth time. "It's against the law for you to stay there. Don't worry. We'll find something for you something that you like. We're going to figure this out."

Suzume slumped down in her chair. She didn't look at all convinced.

Yu was just trying to think of some appropriately encouraging words to help cheer her up when the front door suddenly burst open. Yu stared as Mariko Kusumi strode into the room.

"Where is she?" demanded Marie.

"We have a doorbell," Yu told her pointedly. _I really need to remember to lock the door behind me when I come in._

"Where," repeated Marie, "is…oh. There." By this time she'd located Suzume, and was now walking purposefully over to her. Suzume, apparently terrified, sat rooted to the spot while Marie stared her down. For several long seconds, neither of them moved.

"There's something wrong with you," announced Marie eventually. "I don't know what it is, but you're weird."

Suzume deflated like a crushed balloon. Yu felt that he had to intervene. "Hey," he began, "look, you can't say things like that. There's nothing wrong with her, she's just having a hard time right now. You can't just burst in here and start berating her like that."

Marie completely ignored him. "I know you from somewhere," she informed Suzume. "Where?"

"I…don't remember," stammered Suzume. "I'm a big fan…I love you. I love your work, I…"

She sounded pathetic and panicky, and Marie gave her a scornful sort of look. "I don't care about that," she snapped. "I just want to know where I've seen you before. Why can't you remember? If you're such a big fan, then shouldn't you know if we'd met?"

"We've never met," Suzume whispered miserably. "Not until you found me at the station. I always wanted to meet you. I wanted to be close to you."

Marie lost interest in Suzume's sniveling, and turned back to Yu. "You," she demanded. "Do you know? Where have I seen this girl?"

"I have no idea," sighed Yu. "Now that you're here, can I make you a cup of coffee?"

"Coffee?" Marie frowned. "Um, yes. Fine. With lots of sugar, okay?"

**Meanwhile, in the Velvet Room…**

"No more studying," groaned Nanako. "Please? I don't want to think anymore…"

She was sitting with her back up against the Velvet Room wall, while Adachi stood over her, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Forget studying," he told her. "You can do that shit later, right? Come on, let's go hunt some shadows. Huh? How about it? Hey, come on, please?"

Nanako raised an eyebrow at him. "You…wait, you want to train?" she asked. "That's…no, you never want to train. Are you really bored? I'm sorry…I couldn't come sooner."

Adachi shook his head." Nah, its cool, whatever. I'm just, uh, restless, you know? I'm ready to kick some ass." He gave her a lopsided grin, Something about that grin unsettled Nanako a lot. He was way too upbeat, and way too eager. Adachi was never eager. Sometimes he was in a better mood than at other times, and sometimes he got that strange, creepy battle light in his eyes when he started talking about killing shadows, but this wasn't like that. This time, he honestly just looked excited, kind of like an impatient kid who just desperately wanted to show her something cool.

"Um…well, if you really want to, okay." Nanako started to get to her feet. "Do you want to go to your place, today?"

"Huh? Oh, nah, uh, let's go somewhere else. Uh..actually, I don't know. Where do you wanna go?" He frowned and gazed at Nanako expectantly. She blinked at him.

"We could go to my place," she suggested. "If you don't mind…it's kind of, um…childish." She flushed, and then decided not to think too hard about the Heaven she'd created. Something still twinged in her chest when she remembered how it had felt to stand there in Heaven for the first time and to realize that Mom wasn't coming.

"Yeah," agreed Adachi, grabbing Nanako by the wrist and dragging her towards the door. "The hell are you waiting for? L et's get out of here."

Nanako allowed herself to be pulled along, uncertain how she should be feeling. On one hand, she was delighted that Adachi seemed suddenly so eager to get his work done and to prepare to help Big Bro. She was glad to see him excited about something, and she was more than happy to help.

On the other hand, however, something about the look on his face just felt wrong. He kept looking at her, staring at her, as though he was waiting for her to do or say something and Nanako had no idea what exactly he was hoping she'd do.

"Um, Adachi-san," she began.

Adachi stopped abruptly, and Nanako stumbled as she hurried to stop alongside him. "What?" he asked.

"Uh," she mumbled. "Um…"

There was something needy and desperate in his eyes that she hated to see. Shaking her head, she started forward again, suddenly unwilling to catch his eye.

"It's nothing," she insisted as they both continued on towards Heaven. "No…nope, nothing."

**Chapter 87: Chapter Eighty Five: Time Draws Near**

**Author's Note: **Okay guys. Are you ready for the final, exciting arc of this story?

Hold on to your armrests because, and I mean it, shit is about to get very real, very fast.

For now, though, here's your calm before the storm.

**Chapter Eighty Five: The Time Draws Near**

That that night, or maybe early that morning, Yu opened his eyes and found himself in an all-too familiar world of brilliant blue.

_The Velvet Room, _he realized. _But, why now?_

"Welcome," murmured Igor silkily, "to the Velvet Room."

"Hello," muttered Yu. He glanced over at Margaret, who returned his gaze with an almost glassily blank look that was somehow even more inscrutable than her usually polite stare.

"It has been some time," continued Igor. "I am certain, of course, that you have not forgotten your quest."

_Oh, _thought Yu. _So this is that kind of summons. It's a warning. _"No," he reassured them both. "I haven't forgotten. It's just that I need more time. There's a lot going on."

"Are you drawing any closer to the solution to our newest mystery?" inquired Igor.

"I…no." Yu felt his face turning hot. "I'm sorry. I don't think I am. I mean…we are. I don't think we are."

Igor frowned, and shook his head gently. "I see…" He sighed. "The time draws near when you will again be asked to make a terrible choice. The ones you love are in danger, and your very world is threatened. Is there…some reason for your delay?"

Yu opened his mouth, then closed it again. "Delay?" he managed to say eventually. "No, of course not. It's not like that. I'm just confused. I'm still trying to understand what's going on. There's so much we still don't know."

"The final key lies ready to your hand," Igor informed him. "You are aware of what you must do. The path lies clear to you, as it has always done, wielder of the Wild Card."

For some reason, Yu found himself looking at Margaret again. She gazed back at him, then frowned, and asked quietly, "Are you afraid?"

"Afraid? No, I'm not…wait!" Yu protested as the blue room began to waver and then to dissolve around him. The last thing Yu saw was the slightly disappointed look on Igor's face before he woke up with a start, in his own bed, listening to the jarring beep of the alarm clock on the bedside table.

"Unh," he muttered miserably.

Chie was already awake beside him, her head resting on her elbow as she gazed blearily at him. "Yu-kun?" she asked. "What's wrong? Nightmares again?"

Yu groaned and stuck his head under the pillow.

_Yes, _he thought. _Nightmares. Exactly._

"Chie," he said. "There's something I have to do."

Chie winced. "It doesn't sound like you're talking about something fun. We're going back into the TV world, right?"

"Yes." Yu nodded "And…I need you there, with me. I'm…" he frowned, bit his lip, and then muttered, "I'm really not looking forward to this. I've been putting it off for too long, I guess."

Chie shrugged. "Don't worry, I put stuff off all the time! Uh…but, maybe that's not something to be proud of? Anyway." She reached under the covers and squeezed his hand. "Of course I'll be there with you. There's nowhere else I'd want to be, obviously. We're going to face this thing together, whatever it is, okay?"

"Okay," agreed Yu. He spent a moment drawing strength from the warmth of her hand.

"Okay." Chie yawned impressively. "Ugh, work…man, I could really use some more sleep. Working for Dojima-san can be really awful sometimes…he never lets me be late! I mean, he's ALWAYS on time. It's crazy. How is anybody ALWAYS on time?"

**Later that day, at the Junes food court…**

Nanako and Teddie were sitting across from each other at one of the plastic tables, each with a menu in front of them.

"I'm starving!" announced Teddie happily.

Nanako, however, wasn't hungry at all. She had a sick sort of feeling in the pit of her stomach, and was worried that anything she put into her stomach might come flying right back up and out again.

_Are these…butterflies?_ She wondered. _Everyone always talks about having "butterflies in your stomach" when you're out with someone you really like. Does that mean…that I really like Teddie?_

She glanced at Teddie over the top of her menu, and frowned. He noticed, and twinkled at her, flashing her a wink, and giving her one of those dazzling signature smiles that made all the ladies at Junes start to swoon.

Nanako sighed. She didn't feel much like swooning. Instead, every time she noticed how excited he was, she felt like running away, or like crawling under the table and dying right there and then.

_I'd better order something, _she thought, transferring her attention to the menu. _Maybe I'm just hungry. Some food might make me feel better…right?_

"Oh!" exclaimed Teddie. "Hey, look! It's Yosuke and Suzu-chan! Oooh, do you think they're on a date like us?"

Nanako flinched at the word "date," but was genuinely curious enough to follow Teddie's pointing finger. Sure enough, Yosuke and Suzume were just settling down at another table, and Yosuke was in the process of telling some kind of dramatic story, complete with emphatic hand gestures. Suzume looked completely disinterested. In fact, she kept glancing around the food court impatiently as though she were waiting for someone.

"Come on, Nana-chan!" Teddie got up from his chair, and took Nanako by the arm. "Let's go say hi! Oooh, this can be one of those 'double-date' things! Yosuke's going to be so excited to see us!"

_I don't think he will, _decided Nanako, watching the intense, eager expression on Yosuke's face as he tried and failed to entertain Suzume. She felt genuinely badly about interrupting them, but he really did look as though he could use all the help they could give him.

_And besides, _she thought guiltily, trying not to look at Teddie while she thought it, _I could use some help, too. Help me, Yosuke! Get me out of here!_

"Yoooosuke!" Teddie, in typically oblivious Teddie fashion, interrupted Yosuke mid-gesture and pulled a seat up to his table. Yosuke looked annoyed, then glanced over at Suzume, and bit back whatever irritable thing he had probably been planning to say.

"Uh, Hi, Ted," he muttered instead. "Hey, Nanako." He nodded at Nanako, and didn't look at her with the same daggers in his eyes that he was doing his best to shoot at Teddie.

"Hi, Suzu-chan!" Teddie waved at Suzume, who gave him a startled half-smile. "Whatcha doing? Are you on a date?"

"H-huh? Us?" Yosuke went white. "Uh…well, y-yeah, we are. Of course. Sure. Right, Suzume-san?"

Suzume shot a look at Nanako, and it was a desperate look that Nanako, in her current situation understood all too well. The look said very plainly, "I have no idea how I got into this mess, but I have to get of here."

"Hi, Suzume-san," murmured Nanako.

"Hello, Nanako-chan." Suzume gave her a tiny but nearly genuine smile.

"So?" Yosuke asked impatiently. "What's up, Ted? We're…well, we're kinda busy here, so whatever it is, make it quick."

Teddie gave Yosuke a very hurt look. "Aw, Yosuke, you don't mean that! We're not bothering you, are we? We wanted to come over and be a part of your date! You know, like a double date! Have you ever been on a double date? I want to try it!"

"What? No, that's-!" began Yosuke.

Abruptly, Suzume stood up from the table. "Excuse me," she mumbled. "I'm…going to the ladies room." Then she left, walking very quickly, and disappeared through the door to the Junes electronics department.

"Now look what you've done!" shouted Yosuke. "Jeez, Teddie, you just had to butt in right when things were starting to go pretty well!"

_They were going well? _Wondered Nanako. _Um, that's not what I looked like to me. Then again…what do I know about dating?_

She didn't want to be disloyal to Yosuke. She was sure, of course, that he'd be a great boyfriend for Suzume. He was almost like a second big brother to her, after all, and she knew without a shadow of a doubt in her soul that he was a wonderful person.

_Still…_ Nanako frowned. She couldn't forget the cornered look on Suzume's face. _Now, I wonder if I can sneak away like that and hide in the bathroom? No…if I do it too, then it'll just look suspicious. I should wait and let Suzume-san be. Oh well…_

**Meanwhile, at Aiya…**

"Eat," commanded Dojima, as the server placed a steaming bowl of chicken and rice in front of Togoshi. Togoshi stared at it for a moment, then hazarded a smile, and picked up his fork.

"Looks good," he admitted. "Guess maybe I'm hungrier than I thought."

Yanase laughed. "Of course you're hungry. You didn't even have breakfast at the hotel this morning. Usually I can't get you to stop eating!"

"Kiyoko'll be pleased with me," muttered Togoshi. "She's always telling me I eat too much. Says I'm gonna make myself fat…if I haven't already." He gave his ample stomach a grimace, then shrugged, and filled his mouth with chicken. Yanase beamed at him.

"You too," Dojima said, pointing imperiously at Yanase's bowl of fried rice. Sheepishly, she began eating as well. "We've all been working hard. You're all I have left. I can't have you passing out on me or running out of steam because you were too stupid to eat. Understood?"

"Yessir," agreed Togoshi, snorting out a laugh.

"Yes, sir!" agreed Yanase. "Eating right now, sir!" Dojima noticed that she, too, was eating her rice with relish, and wondered how often she'd skipped the same meals that she'd been nagging Togoshi about.

"Talked to the big boss today," mumbled Togoshi around his chicken.

Yanase's eyebrows shot up. "What? You did? When? Why didn't you tell me?"

"The prefectural police, huh?" asked Dojima. "What do they want, now?"

"Nothing." Togoshi shook his head, swallowed his meal, and suppressed a yawn. "Nothing anymore, anyway. They say they want me and Cho back in Tokyo, since we're not getting anywhere on this case. They figure this Adachi character's left town already and that we're not doing much good here. People are starting to say they've seen him in Osaka."

"I heard there was a reported sighting in Nagoya," muttered Yanase unhappily.

Dojima felt his heart sink a little bit, and did his best to ignore the feeling. "So…they're sending you back?" he asked. "That's…well, that's too bad."

"Yeah," agreed Yanase glumly. "Just when we were starting to make a good team, I thought."

Dojima was pensive and silent for a moment, and Togoshi's mouth was again full of food. Yanase glanced around at both of them in the subsequent silence, and then flushed slightly.

"S-sorry," she mumbled. "Maybe that was just me…I mean, I thought that we made a-!"

"What are you talking about? Did I say we were going back? We're not going anywhere. Case isn't over yet." Togoshi shook his head. "Just said I was on the phone with them, didn't I? I told the big wigs we weren't done here, that we still had some stuff to clear up. We've got a few more months, at least, to find a solid lead."

"We do? That's great!" Yanase started to laugh, and then suddenly frowned and glared at Togoshi. "Juro, why did you scare us like that? You could have told us the good news in the first place, without all that stuff about going back to Tokyo!"

"We do," said Dojima quietly.

Yanase and Togoshi both looked at him. "Huh? We do what?" asked Togoshi.

Dojima cleared his throat. "We do make a good team," he repeated, a little bit louder this time. Yanase gave him what was almost a radiant smile.

"You know what?" agreed Togoshi. "You're right about that. What do you say to a celebratory team drink, huh?"

He raised his hand for the waiter, and Dojima briefly considered mentioning that it was still a bit too early in the evening to start drinking. _Aw, what the hell, _he decided, shaking his head. _Why not? Maybe we've earned it. It's been a long couple of days…_

Eventually, the waiter brought over a few beers, and Togoshi opened his, holding it up in front of him with a solemn look on his face. Dojima couldn't help noticing the darkened bags hanging under his eyes.

"We're toasting," he informed them. "To, uh…"

"To us," murmured Yanase.

"Right." Togoshi grinned at her. "Sure, to us. Ready? To us!"

They toasted, and they drank. Dojima felt a warm feeling trickling down through his insides, and he wasn't entirely sure that stemmed only from the alcohol.

**Chapter 88: Chapter Eighty Six: Look at Me**

**Author's Note: **I am honestly going to try to get two chapters out tonight. No promises, but I'm making a concerted effort!

**Chapter Eighty Six: Look at Me**

Dojima, Togoshi, and Yanase stayed out for several more hours, letting themselves sober up after not one but four celebratory drinks. Eventually, Dojima looked over at the restaurant's wall clock and saw that it was after ten at night.

"We should go," he muttered. "They're gonna want to close this place, and we've all got work in the morning."

Dutifully, Yanase and Togoshi both pushed their chairs away from the table and stood up. Yanase reached for her jacket and started shrugging it on, but Togoshi turned around and glared at the back of his seat.

"What?" asked Dojima.

"Dunno," muttered Togoshi, scratching unhappily at the back of his head. "I think maybe I left my jacket on my desk at the station."

"At Chief Taiga's desk, you mean," corrected Yanase with unexpected insistence. Togoshi waved that away with one dismissive hand.

"Yeah, at the chief's. Anyway, it's not here."

"Are you sure it's not in the car?" Yanase was frowning at him. "It's going to be cold in the morning without a jacket. Should we go back and get it?"

Togoshi shook his head. "I'll go. You head back to the hotel and get some sleep. Here's hoping I can find the damn thing pretty quick. I'm ready to pass out."

"No, I'll-!" began Yanase. Togoshi shot Dojima a look, and Dojima rested a hand on Yanase's shoulder.

"Do what he says," ordered Dojima. "The guy can find the jacket by himself."

Yanase looked as though she was going to argue, but Togoshi didn't give her the opportunity. "I'm off," he said, heading for the door. "Quicker I find it, the quicker I can get back and into bed. See you later, Cho-chan."

"Okay." Yanase relented under insistence from both of her superiors. "If you say so. I'll see you at the hotel, then. Don't get lost, Juro, okay? Goodnight, Dojima-san."

"Night, Ryotaro." Togoshi nodded at him. "Thanks for the drink! See you bright and early."

Yanase grimaced. "Right…bright and early." She sighed.

"Goodnight," replied Dojima, as Yanase and Togoshi each left the restaurant and went, presumably, their separate ways. Then he collected his things, waved to the owner, and started home to Nanako.

**Meanwhile, at the Dojima residence…**

"Big Bro?" Nanako came rushing over as soon as Yu and Chie walked in the front door. "Have you seen Suzume?"

Yu stared. "Suzume? No, I haven't seen her. Why? Isn't she here?"

"No…" Nanako looked worried. "She hasn't come back yet."

"Come back from where? Oh, wait!" Chie gasped. "Wasn't she out with Yosuke this afternoon? Yeah, I definitely remember Yosuke being really excited about taking Suzume-san out on a date today."

"That reminds me," muttered Yu, suddenly giving Nanako a very hard look, "how was your lunch with Teddie?"

"Oh, it was…it was fine." Nanako fidgeted with the edges of skirt. "I mean, Teddie and I were fine. Thank you." She didn't feel that she wanted to say what she was really thinking, at least not to Big Bro. After all, he and Chie were very close to Teddie, and Nanako didn't feel really comfortable telling them anything about her doubts or the fact that sitting across from Teddie at a table all al one made her squirm and want to run.

_I wish I could tell him about it, _she thought unhappily. _Maybe he'd understand. Maybe he wouldn't even get mad, but…you don't talk about one friend to another friend behind his back. That's…that's just I like Teddie. I really do like him. I just…I don't know._

Yu was frowning into Nanako's face, and she was having trouble meeting his eyes. It looked as though he'd noticed that something, at least, wasn't quite right.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he began. "But, Nanako…"

"Wait, hang on," interrupted Chie, apparently oblivious to the turmoil in Nanako's head and heart. "What about Yosuke? Did Suzume slap him? Oh, but she doesn't really seem like the violent type, does she?"

"Oh…" That, at least, was a story that Nanako didn't feel quite as badly about relating. _After all, _she reasoned, _They'll hear about it from Yosuke eventually. _"Um, Yosuke and Suzume were talking," she recounted dutifully, "and then Teddie and I went over and sat down with them. Teddie started bugging Yosuke, and Suzume got up and said she had to go to the bathroom. She went into Junes, and…um, she never came back."

"Oh…" Chie bit her lip. "That's too bad. Poor Yosuke."

"Yes," agreed Yu, sighing. "Poor Yosuke. It's not as though we didn't try to warn him, though. Suzume never seemed too interested."

"He can do so much better than her, anyway," muttered Chie loyally. Yu gave her an amused sort of smile.

"But, I mean, she NEVER came back!" Nanako was frowning again. "She never came back to the table, and when I looked in the bathroom, she wasn't there! Yosuke waited for her for a long time, and then he gave up, so I came back here, but she wasn't here, either! I haven't seen her since then, and it's starting to get kinda late. Do you think maybe she got lost and couldn't find her way back to the house?"

"No, I don't think that's what happened," murmured Yu. "Has anyone gone and checked the TV station?"

Chie's eyes widened. "No way! But, she knows she can't go back there. Someone will catch her, this time. Maybe Marie's already told everyone bout her!"

"Why would she go back there?" agreed Nanako. "It's warmer and nicer here. She's got food, here, and a couch to sleep on, and she doesn't have to worry about anyone chasing her away. It's much better for her, here."

"We did what we could for her." Yu was starting to look tired. "We offered her a place to stay, and everything else that we could offer. We can't force her to accept. She's a grown woman, and we can't keep her here against her will."

They were all quiet for a minute. Yu sat down in one of the kitchen chairs, and Chie instantly had her arms around his shoulders. It was an unusual display of physical affection from the two of them, and Nanako felt somehow warm, happy, and suddenly lonely at the same time.

"Do you think Suzume-san doesn't like us?" she asked.

Yu just shook his head. "I don't know," he admitted. "Not everyone is always going to like us."

_That, _reflected Nanako, _seems strange. After all, everyone always likes Big Bro. Well, everyone but Adachi-san, anyway…_

"Nanako," began Yu, "I have to ask you a favor. May I do that?"

Nanako nodded eagerly. "Of course!"

"I want to ask you to stay here tonight." Yu was looking her straight in the face again. "Chie and I are going into the TV world again, and I need you to stay here to make sure that uncle Dojima doesn't get suspicious." Nanako opened her mouth to protest, but Yu held up a hand to forestall her. "I know that you want to come with us, "he assured her, "and after some of the things I've seen you do in there, I know that you can. This time, though, I don't know how long it's going to take, and I need to be sure that uncle Dojima doesn't worry. Do you understand? I'm counting on you."

Perhaps for the first time, Nanako realized, Yu wasn't ordering her to stay home, or flatly refusing to accept that she, too, could be a part of the team inside the TV world. Instead, very seriously and sincerely, he was asking her, and to Nanako, that made a difference.

"Okay, Big Bro," she agreed. "I'll stay here tonight."

Yu breathed a sigh of relief, and gave Nanako a grateful smile.

"Are you and Chie going alone? Asked Nanako, still worried.

Yu shook his head. "No. We're meeting Yosuke inside, and we'll pick up Adachi-san from the Velvet Room."

"Yeah," agreed Chie. "Well…wait, we'll what?" She stared at Yu. "We're bringing Adachi? Wh-why? Shouldn't we call Yukiko? She's the best healer! Oh, or Kanji! He's pretty good in a fight."

"No, not this time." Yu was adamant. "Yukiko and Kanji are two of the most reliable people I've ever met. Tonight, though, I need Adachi. There's something he has to see. It's something…that I have to show him."

Chie did not look as though she liked or wanted to go along with that at all. She, too, must have seen the intensely serious look on Yu's face, though, and she, like Nanako subsided into silence.

**A few minutes later, in the Velvet Room…**

"Ah…welcome to the Velvet Room," murmured Igor as Yu and Chie appeared in the doorway. Adachi looked up, and found that they were coming straight for him.

"You need to come with us," said Yu.

Adachi sneered. "Oh yeah? How come? More training? You're too late; I've already got in my quota for today."

"We're not training," returned Y u. "We have a battle to fight, but it isn't training. I need your help, and…and there's something I'd like for you to see."

"Not happening." Adachi shrugged. "What do I want to help you, for?"

Yu didn't get angry. He didn't bat an eyelash. "Trust me," he said, still quiet and controlled. "You're going to like this."

Something about Yu's demeanor, thought Adachi, was too quiet and controlled. His fists were clenched at his sides, and Adachi could see the veins standing out in his forehead and throat. It looked as though he might honestly explode with some kind of latent emotion at any moment, and that, at least, was interesting. Adachi had never seen the great Yu Narukami lose control before, and he decided that it might be worth waiting for.

"Okay," he agreed. "Sure. Why not? I'm not doing anything else. This could be interesting. I'm in. Where are we going?"

Yu and Chie, both looking grim, marched him out of the Velvet Room and across the plains and valleys of the TV world landscape, until they arrived on the main street of the place that had been created to resemble the real world shopping district. Yosuke was standing outside the swirling entrance to the liquor store, impatiently drumming his hands against his legs and looking frustrated and nervy.

"Hey," he called out as they approached.

"Hey." Yu strode over, and he and Yosuke clasped hands in a brotherly sort of man's greeting. Adachi scowled and thought they looked like sappy idiots.

"Heard you had a rough day," said Yu.

"Oh, man…you have no idea." Yosuke sighed heavily. "Look, I…don't really want to talk about it, okay? Let's just do this thing so I can go home and wallow in my defeat."

Yu chuckled. "Yeah," he agreed. "Okay."

Yosuke shot a glance over at Adachi and raised an eyebrow, but apparently decided not to say anything about it. Adachi was almost disappointed. The Hanamura kid wasn't supposed to have a lot of self restraint. Provoking him was usually a good way to let off some steam.

"Right." Yu took a short breath, then closed his eyes, and said, "Well? Where are you? I'm ready. I'm ready to end this. Show yourself."

For a moment, nothing answered or stirred.

"Man, you're way too cool about this," muttered Yosuke. "Then again, I guess that's why you're our leader. Still…"

"Shut up, Yosuke," hissed Chie. Adachi realized that Chie was holding Yu's hand. Then, he heard a short, pleasant, feminine laugh from somewhere behind him, and turned around to find himself facing two tall individuals that he'd definitely never seen before.

The man was silver-haired, austere, and composed, wearing a dark business suit and a pair of thin-rimmed glasses. The woman by his side had long dark hair, and was wearing a pink apron over her light brown house dress.

"Look, Masaru," crooned the woman. "Look who came to see us. It's been such a long time…"

"Hmph," snorted the man, apparently named Masaru. He was looking straight past Adachi, Yosuke, and Chie, and for a moment his eyes were fixed on Yu's. Then he scowled, dropped his gaze, and turned away.

"Masaru," murmured the woman. "Where are your manners? Aren't you going to say hello to your son? After all, we haven't seen him in so many years…and who knows when he'll be back to visit us again? Now, now…the two of you must make up and shake hands. Go on. Go. Talk to your son."

_Whoa, _thought Adachi. _So, this is Narukami's dad, huh? And this is his mom? Dojima-san's sister? Guess she got all the good-looking genes in that family…_

"Hi, Dad," muttered Yu.

Yu's father said nothing. He didn't even look up. Yu's mother sighed and threw up her hands.

"I don't know what's wrong with you both," she began. "I've tried everything, I really have. Your father was as patient as could be, for a while. He really was, Yu. We so hoped that you'd come and visit us. We waited and we waited, but…you never came."

"There wasn't any point," returned Yu, has face wooden. "I had nothing to say to you. There's nothing for us to say to each other, anymore."

"How can you say that? What a horrible thing to tell your poor mother." Yu's mother looked shocked "And after everything we've done for you. We gave you everything, Yu-kun. You went to the best schools, always had the nicest clothes and the nicest toys. You never wanted for anything, and this is hwo you repay us?"

Yu opened his mouth, but then closed it again. Chie squeezed his hand, and Yosuke took a step closer and stood just in front of Yu, his hand poised on his weapon. As if in response, Yu's father turned his back to the group, apparently unperturbed.

"That boy," whispered Yu's mother. "He's threatening us! Oh, Masaru…"

Yu's eyes were still locked on his father's back, and his father made no move to turn around and engage him.

"Look at me," whispered Yu. A muscle was twitching in his face. Yosuke gave him a nervous look.

"Keep it together, partner," mumbled Yosuke. "Remember, you've got this…"

"Look at me." Yu raised his voice a bit, and took a step around Yosuke and closer to his mother and father. His mother took a step back, but his father didn't move an inch. Yu reached out and grasped his father firmly by the shoulder. Instantly, the man spun around, and he and Yu gazed at each other for a long, breathless moment.

"Why?" breathed Yu. "Why won't you look at me? You're here for me, aren't you You're here to tell me what I'm feeling, to tell me what I'm thinking. You're here to tell me what's wrong with me, right? So, look at me!" He's voice drifted up slightly into what was almost a whine, and there was something new in his eyes now that Adachi hadn't seen in them before. Yu was waiting, expectant, almost begging with those eyes, and Yu's fathers eyes reflected back a kind of dismissive contempt that made something in Adachi's blackened heart twinge. "I'm ready," said Yu. "I'm ready to hear about it. I'm ready to face it. So, go ahead. Talk to me. Tell me what I really am."

"Yu-kun," whispered Chie sadly.

"Damn," grunted Yosuke. "Guess I should have known. Nobody's really got it all together, right?"

**Chapter 89: Chapter Eighty Seven: To Us**

**Author's Note: **WARNING: Potentially unsettling content.

**Chapter Eighty Seven: To Us**

"…Childish," muttered Yu's father under his breath.

"What?" demanded Yu. "What did you say?"

"You're behaving like a child." Slowly, Yu's father turned around and gazed at him with disdain written all over his father. Adachi watched the famous, confident, dauntless Yu Narukami flinch and fall back under the weight of that disgusted look. "All your life you've done nothing but beg and plead for attention. It was never enough that we gave you everything we had. It was never enough that I worked as many hours as I could, and that your mother began working again as soon as you were old enough just so that we would have the funds to give you the education and the quality of life that you have become accustomed to."

Yu glanced over at his mother, who shook her head gently. "He's right, you know," she murmured. "It always made us so very sad to see how ungrateful you were for our kindness."

"Ungrateful," whispered Yu. "No, you're wrong. I was never ungrateful, I just-!"

"You just wanted more," interrupted his father, sounding tired. "You weren't satisfied with our generosity. You wanted every waking second of our time, even when we were too tired from working ourselves to the bone just to please you. You wanted constant attention, even when you were old enough to be called a man. You needed, craved attention. You drained us. We were constantly exhausted from trying to meet your incessant demands on our time."

"You didn't understand," whispered Yu. "I never wanted your presents. I didn't care about nice schools and nice things. I wanted-!"

"How do you know?" his father snapped. "How do you know what you wanted? We never gave you the opportunity to want for anything. We gave you everything. You don't know what it's like to go without."

"We pampered you for your entire young life," his mother agreed. "I wonder if that was the wrong choice…"

Yu took a deep breath. Adachi could tell that he was struggling hard against something inside of him, and, before he realized he'd done it, Adachi's hand was on his weapon. _Here it comes, _he thought.

"The only thing I ever really wanted," insisted Yu very quietly, was for you to look at me."

"Hmph." His father snorted. "I'm looking at you now. Do you know what I see?"

"Tell me," begged Yu.

"I see a man who never grew up," finished his father with a cold sneer etched into his distinguished face. "I see a man who spent his whole life craving for nothing but attention. What did you do, when you were finally old enough to fend for yourself? You left home and you went seeking attention. You're very popular now. You're well liked. You're well known. Yet, still, despite all of your glamour and your prestige, you've amounted to nothing. You're a teacher at a tiny school in the middle of nowhere. You're nothing. You're insignificant. This was never what we wanted for you."

"That's not true," hissed Chie. "He's not-!"

"Quiet, Chie." Yosuke was watching Yu intently. "Let him handle it."

Perhaps attracted by Chie's outburst, Yu's father turned his head ever so slightly in her direction, and gave her a disapproving look.

"These 'friends' you've made, and this following you've created….they call you 'leader,' don't they? You're a selfish little boy. You never cared about their 'cause' or their needs. What they wanted could never have been important to you. You just wanted attention, like a spoiled, needy child. You just wanted their love. It didn't matter how you got it, as long as you had it in the end. You would have done anything to pique their interest or to get them to 'look at you.' You would have told them anything to please them and make them want you. Well, Yu? Are you happy, now? Do you finally have everything that you wanted?"

Yu shut his eyes tightly, and drew in a long, deep breath. "yes," he said, his voice shaking a bit. "I do. I'm happy, now."

_Selfish, _thought Adachi. _Guess that Hanamura kid was right. Nobody could be as perfect as Narukami was supposed to be. He did it all for himself after all, huh? Like I'm surprised. How does it feel, Yu? How does it feel to have everyone find out that you're a real fucking human being, just like the rest of us?_

"I'm sorry, Chie," murmured Yu. "And Yosuke. I'm sorry. They're right. That is who I am. I'm not noble, and I'm not a hero. I don't deserve to be a leader. I resisted it for so long because I know, now. I'm just a lonely, needy person, like everyone else."

"Yu-kun," whispered Chie. "Don't say that. Of course you're lonely, growing up in a family like that…"

Out of the corner of his eye, Adachi saw that the shadows of Yu's parents had begun to drift closer and closer together. As he watched, they began to merge with one another, growing and expanding until they towered over the waiting party.

"Selfish child," intoned the shadow, as it spurted out spindly arms and legs, and began to rock back and forth on rickety joints, like a terrible, ugly, gargantuan doll. "You have no love to give. How can you expect to receive?"

"It's coming," announced Chie. "Ready, everyone?"

Adachi and Chie both prepared to rush forward, but for some reason, Yosuke didn't move. He kept looking back and forth between Yu and the shadow creature, and then slowly shook his head.

"I don't care," he muttered.

"What?" Chie blinked at him. "What do you mean? We can't just-!"

"I don't care why you did it," repeated Yosuke, a bit louder this time. "It doesn't fucking matter what brought you here. What's wrong with wanting attention? It's normal to be lonely. Dude, you saved my life. You made me feel like I had a reason to be alive in the first place. Without you, I never would have been able to move on from senpai. I never would have discovered my powers, or my true self. Maybe I never could have been happy again. I don't care what the hell you did it for. You saved the world. You're my best friend. So what if you did it to get attention? You still did it! You mean everything to me. That's what matters. None of this crap makes any of it less real, okay? So forget about feeling sorry about your motives. To hell with motives I don't want to hear it. I know who you are. You're not perfect. You're my partner, and I don't give a shit about anything else."

Yu turned slowly around and looked at Yosuke. "I do care about you," he said. "You matter to me. I wanted to help you. I didn't just-!"

"Aw come on!" Yosuke shook his head violently. "You think I don't know that?"

"That's right, Yu." Chie was tearing up a little bit. "Of course it is. You're here with us, now, and we'll never leave you alone or abandon you. We love you so much. You don't have to worry anymore. You don't have to do anything. We'll love you no matter what, and that's a promise!"

"Chie." Yu looked slightly stunned. Yosuke stepped forward and interceded between Yu and his shadow.

"So," he told the shadow, "get lost. We don't need to fight you. There's nothing else for us to do, here."

Then, to Adachi's amazement, Yosuke turned his back on the shadow. The shadow reared up in apparent anger, and prepared to lunge at Yosuke's back.

"Stop," said Yu. It wasn't loud, but it somehow cut through the air like a shout, and the shadow froze. "I'm not ashamed of who I am," he went on. "I don't have to beg for acceptance, here. I don't have to try to make people like me. This is where I belong. They get me, here. They know me for who I am. So…I'm sorry, mother and father. I'm sorry that I disappointed you, and I'm sorry that I didn't live up to your expectations. I'm sorry if you felt that I was ungrateful. Maybe I was. Maybe I still am. But I'm grateful for what I have, now. And I'm…I'm never coming home."

Then Yu, too, turned and faced away with Yosuke. Soon, Chie joined them.

Adachi was the only one still watching while the shadow twisted in what looked like agony, and then morphed back into a disturbing meld of Yu's mother and father. His mother and father stepped away from each other and separated, and this time Yu's mother came running towards him, her arms outstretched.

"Yu-kun, don't be like this," she cried. "How will you ever learn if you ignore us? Listen to your father, he knows what he's saying. He only wants what's best for you. Come home and let us help you live your life the way you know you should. We'll help you get everything you ever wanted!"

"I have everything I want," murmured Yu, not looking at her. "I have friends here who accept me for who I am. You could never accept that I'm not perfect. You'll never be able to. My friends can, and they have…and so have I."

For a moment, Yu's mother looked as though she was going to protest. Then Yu turned around, and looked right past her into his father's yellow eyes. For just for a moment, Yu's father turned into an image of Yu himself, while his mother looked on in tranquil silence.

Neither of them said anything. Then the shadow of Yu nodded once, and both he and Yu's mother erupted into a glimmering display of light.

_Yu has faced and forgiven the past, _intoned the ever-present disembodied voice. _He has obtained the façade used to face the unforeseeable future, the persona Amida Nyorai. _Within the glow of light, Adachi could just barely make out of the figure of Yu's ultimate persona, Izanagi-no-Okami, transforming into a tall, powerful looking red-skinned man with his hands clasped gently across his impressive chest. Light trickled off of every inch of the man, and on each of his shoulders was resting a lotus blossom, which lay open to reveal even more beams of light. The effect was almost blinding. Adachi couldn't stare at it for very long.

"Oh," whispered Chie. "Yu, it's…he's beautiful…"

Suddenly, Adachi was aware that Yu was looking at him.

"You weren't wrong, I guess," said Yu. "We do have some things in common."

"Heh," mumbled Adachi feebly. He didn't seem to be able to find anything else to say. _Got that right, _he admitted to himself. _Selfish kid, huh? Yeah, looks like we've got pretty similar roots. Can't remember my Dad ever giving me too much love and affection either…not that I wanted it. It's not like I craved his attention like this kid, or anything. Still…_

"Yeah," Adachi said eventually, realizing that Yu was expecting a response. "If things had worked out differently, you could have been me."

"Right," agreed Yu." But, I'm not you."

Adachi was trying not to let that last remark sting, and doing his best to come up with a suitable comeback when Yosuke's voice interrupted him.

"What the hell is that?" shouted Yosuke, pointing off into the distance. Adachi, Yu, and Chie followed his gaze, and found themselves looking at what appeared to be some kind of little townhouse standing all by itself in the middle of the plain.

"No," said Yu. "We're too late."

"What's going on?" asked Chie. "Yu? What is this?"

**Meanwhile, at the Dojima residence…**

Dojima's cell phone rang, jerking him out of a blessedly sound sleep. The bedside clock told him that it was only four AM, and he rubbed blearily at his eyes, doing his best to pull himself together. _It's an emergency, _he realized. _Maybe they've caught Adachi. Maybe…_

"Dojima-san?" said the hesitant voice on the other end of the line. Dojima recognized it as the voice of one of the overnight security guards. "Uh, look, I'm sorry to wake you up like this."

"Its fine," grunted Dojima. "What's wrong?"

"Uh…" The guard sounded shaken. "I…I think you'd better come down to the station, sir. He's…uh, look, you'd better come down. Please. Can you come now?"

"What the hell is going on?" demanded Dojima. "Who's 'he?' What are you talking about?"

The security guard, however, had already hung up the phone. Dojima stared at it for a second, then pulled a pair of pants of off of the floor, found his shoes, and headed for the car.

He arrived at the station twenty minutes later, to find two police cars already parked outside. As he climbed out of the car, an ambulance drove up, sirens blaring.

_What the hell?_ he wondered. _Is someone hurt?_

Then, he saw a familiar black sedan with the Tokyo Police Department sticker on it, and his heart sank like a lead weight. Slamming the car door, he sprinted into the station.

Inside, everything was in chaos. The two security guards and a number of sleepy looking policemen out of uniform were clustered around a prone bundle in the middle of the floor. Dojima couldn't see exactly what the bundle was, but he did see Detective Cho Yanase, kneeling on the ground next to the bundle. The rest of the officers made way as Dojima approached her, and Dojima could see that her eyes were glassy and her face was pale. She had something draped over her shoulders, and as Dojima bent down beside her, he realized that it was Juro Togoshi's missing jacket. Despite the jacket, Yanase was still shivering and shaking, rocking back and forth and whispering inaudibly to herself.

_No, _protested Dojima inside his head. _No. No. NO._

Taking a deep , steadying breath, he forced himself to look at the heap on the floor.

It was, as he'd known moments ago that it would be, the body of Detective Juro Togoshi, crumpled over on the floor, his legs splayed out and one arm thrown haphazardly over his face. Dojima had seen more than one dead body in his time, and he didn't have to look very long to know without a shadow of a doubt that Togoshi was stone dead.

"Why?" Dojima heard himself ask. "Why…?"

"Ah," mumbled Yanase.

Dojima turned and looked at her again. He'd expected her to be sobbing, but she wasn't. She was just staring at Togoshi's body, her mouth slightly open, with a lost, uncertain look on her face as though she wasn't quite sure where she was anymore. She kept opening and closing her fingers around the fabric creases in Togoshi's jacket, crumpling and uncrumpling it.

"She found the body, sir," muttered one of the security guards, as the paramedics burst into the room. "He came in here hours ago to do some last minute research, and he never came out. I, uh…I guess I sort of forgot about him, seeing as he was so quiet, back there, and then Miss Yanase-!"

"Detective," muttered Dojima absently.

"Right, sorry. I mean, Detective Yanase came in saying he hadn't come back to his hotel. She went looking for him, and I went with her, and we…uh, we found him like this, sir."

One of the paramedics reached down to pull Togoshi's body on to the stretcher that two others were carrying. Yanase moved like lightning. She suddenly latched on to both of Togoshi's arms, forcing her body in between him and the grasping paramedic.

"No," she whispered.

"Yanase," began Dojima.

"No," she whispered again, shaking her head. "Leave him…leave him alone!" Another tremor shot through her body, and she choked off what sounded like a gasp and was probably a baffled sob. Then she looked at Dojima, begging him with her eyes.

"Ma'am," mumbled the paramedic who was doing his best to get Togoshi on to the stretcher. "Ma'am, you have to let go, now. We're gonna do our best for him. You gotta step away, now, Ma'am."

"Come here, Cho," ordered Dojima, surprised by the sound of his own voice.

"I-!" began Yanase.

Dojima stood up, walked over to Yanase, and gently disentangled her from Togoshi. She didn't struggle, and she didn't scream. Instead, she stood there, and watched in unsettling silence as the paramedics trundled Togoshi away, and loaded him into the ambulance.

"I'm going with him," she told Dojima quietly. "Let me go."

"Yanase." Dojima wasn't sure how to say it. "You can't…uh. Look. He's dead."

"Yes." Yanase nodded. "I know." Something about the quiet, unshakeable certainty in her voice broke something inside Dojima. He could still hear, in the back of his mind, the sound of Togoshi's' booming, reassuring voice as he'd walked out of Aiya and headed for the station. He could see the beer in Togoshi's hand, and the pride in his face as he'd repeated "To us," before chugging the beer and slamming it back down on the table. He could hear him laugh. Togoshi had had a good, resounding, comforting kind of laugh.

"I'm going," repeated Yanase. This time, Dojima didn't try to hold her back. He released her, and she headed towards the exit, following after the trail of paramedics. After a couple of brief, reeling moments, Dojima hurried to catch up with him.

"Yeah," he told her, as he fell into step beside her and behind the ambulance. "Me too."

**Author's Note: **That's…all I have in me for tonight.

I apologize if I upset anyone with this chapter. I kind of upset myself. :( I'm gonna miss him.

**Chapter 90: Chapter Eighty Eight: So Close**

**Author's Note: **Just a short little chapter tonight, dealing with the aftermath of the end of Chapter Eighty Seven.

**Chapter Eighty Eight: So Close**

After the doctor at Inaba Municipal Hospital had formally pronounced Juro Togoshi as dead, Dojima and Yanase drifted back out into the street. Yanase was eerily silent as they turned the corner and passed the bus stop.

"I'll get us a taxi," muttered Dojima.

Yanase shook her head. "I'd like to walk, please," she whispered.

"Okay." Dojima shrugged. He didn't feel like arguing. All of the fight had gone out of him. "Then we'll walk. You can come home with me. You're not staying at that hotel by yourself. You won't be able to sleep, there."

"I won't sleep," whispered Yanase, shaking her head. "I…I can't sleep."

Dojima looked into Yanase's eyes, and saw how lifeless and blank she looked. Her face was pale and drawn, and her hands were shaking at her sides.

"It's okay," he mumbled. "You can cry. You should cry. They say it's good for you. Helps you heal." Dojima was not exactly an expert on this sort of thing and, frankly, crying women terrified him, but Yanase looked as though she needed to let something out.

"No." Again, she shook her head. "No. I can't."

She didn't say another word during the whole walk home, although it was some time before they arrived back at Dojima's house. Dojima opened the door to find Nanako sitting at the table waiting for him, already dressed for the day and looking worried.

"Dad?" she asked, getting up and hurrying across to him. "Where did you go? I heard you go out. What's…oh." She stopped, apparently noticing the look on Dojima's face. "Dad…what's wrong? What's happening?"

"Nanako," muttered Dojima, "please go up to my room and get the futon ready. Detective Yanase's going to borrow it. I'll stay down here. Go on."

Nanako's mouth fell open slightly as she stared at Yanase's face. "O-okay," she said. "Yeah um…I'll be right back."

She turned around to go upstairs, and then stopped, spun on her heel, and reached up to give Dojima a quick kiss on the cheek. "I love you, Daddy," she told him. Dojima didn't remember the last time he'd heard her say it quite like that. Maybe it had been years ago. _I must really look like hell, _he realized. _She can see it, huh?_

"I love you too," he told her, and he meant it. Then, Nanako rushed upstairs to deal with the futon.

"You don't have to," murmured Yanase.

"Shut up," grunted Dojima, without any rancor. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little pill bottle that the doctor had given him. It contained some kind of drug that was supposed to help them both sleep, and Dojima was just about to hand it across to her when he suddenly and vividly remembered the way Chief Taiga's body had looked all splayed out on the floor of his home, next to an overturned bottle of pills. Dojima pulled one pill out of the bottle instead, thrust it at Yanase, and put the rest of the pill bottle back in his pocket.

"I won't sleep," reiterated Yanase.

"Try," suggested Dojima.

Yanase looked as though she were going to argue again, and Dojima, really not in any mental state to try bargaining with or cajoling her, took a deep breath. "Try," he repeated. "That's an order, Detective."

Yanase blinked at him. "Y-Yes sir," she managed.

"Dad? The futon's ready," hazarded Nanako, appearing again in the stairwell. Dojima gestured towards the stairs, and Yanase, after taking one last, long, uncertain look at Dojima, drifted off to follow Nanako into Dojima's room.

Dojima himself, exhausted and finally able to let himself feel it, slumped down into one of the kitchen chairs. His head ached and his mind was spinning, and everything felt terrible and unreal. There were too many questions he had to consider and not enough room in his head for even one of them. All he wanted to do was to shut his mind down and to sleep, but he knew, just as Yanase had known, that sleep wouldn't come without a little bit of chemical help.

_I hate this shit, _he thought, pulling the pill bottle out of his pocket again and looking at it. _Stupid mind-altering crap. Never know what it's gonna do to you. Hell if I'm gonna mess with this. Better to stay up and face it like a man._

"Uncle Dojima?" Yu, apparently having come down from his own bedroom, appeared in the stairwell. Dojima glanced up at him, and Yu stopped and stared, reading Dojima's face with a single glance. Yu's shoulders sagged. "So," he muttered, "I was right."

"You were...what?" asked Dojima. Yu strode to the table and took a seat across from his uncle.

"Detective Togoshi," began Dojima. Yu shook his head, cutting him off.

"I know," he said. "I'm…I'm sorry."

_He knows?_ Wondered Dojima. _How the…?_ Then, almost ridiculously, he felt himself starting to chuckle. It wasn't a merry, happy, chuckle. It drifted darkly out of him, more of a miserable realization that he'd lost control over his world. "Yeah," he muttered. "Of course you know. You always know."

"He was a good guy," said Yu, probably just to fill the silence. "I liked him. You liked him too, didn't you?"

Dojima thought about Togoshi's big, stupid grin, and the way he liked to handle his problems by facing them head on. _A good, old fashioned, reliable kind of guy, _thought Dojima. "Yeah," he said out loud. "Yeah. I liked him."

Yu nodded, frowning and looking concerned, and Dojima realized that there was water in his eyes. He could feel it building up beneath his eyelids, and he knew that he shouldn't be acting weak like this in front of his nephew, whom he worried might be embarrassed by his grief.

"It's okay," insisted Yu quietly. "I can go, if you want."

"Nah." Dojima shook his head, and the gesture dislodged a few wayward tears. "Nah. Do me a favor. Don't…don't go anywhere."

Yu reached out and clasped his uncle's shoulder firmly with one hand. They sat for several long moments in silence, while Dojima thought about Togoshi.

"Thanks," he grunted. "Sorry about this."

"No," murmured Yu. "It's fine."

**Meanwhile, in the Velvet Room…**

"A-Adachi-san?"

Adachi looked up from his usual listless reverie to find Nanako standing silhouetted in the doorway. She was clasping and unclasping her hands nervously in front of her, and as she walked towards him, Adachi could see that her eyes were full of tears.

"What the hell?" He closed the rest of the gap between them, and stared into her face. "Hey, what happened? What's-?"

"Togoshi-san's dead," muttered Nanako.

Adachi had no idea who that was. The name wasn't familiar.

"Who-?" he began.

"And Yanase-san's crying in Dad's bedroom, and Dad…Dad's…" Nanako dashed a hand across her face, trying to wipe away the tears as she did her best to swallow her sobs and to regain control.

"Wait, wha-? Who's in Dojima-san's bedroom?" Adachi's eyes went wide. _Did I hear that right?_

"And Suzume-san ran away," continued Nanako, "and no one can find her, and Big Bro says it's because she doesn't like us. Maybe they're going to arrest her, and maybe Yanase-san won't eve r stop crying, and maybe Dad won't ever be happy again, and we were so close!" She slammed her fist down on her thigh with a n uncharacteristic display of frustration. "We were so close to being happy. Dad was…he was smiling again, and we were all smiling, and everything was going to be all right, but now it's not!' It's never going to be all right! We're never going to-!"

Nanako was crying so hard now that her words were getting lost in the sobs, and the panic started to rise in Adachi's chest, because he had no idea what Nanako was going on about, but it was clearly making her miserable.

_She's not supposed to be crying, _said something in the back of his mind. _This isn't the way it's supposed to work. I'm supposed to make her smile, right? That's what I do. I'm good at making her smile._

"H-hey, Nanako-chan," he said. "Come on, don't cry. It's…uh, I don't really get what you're so sad about, but, uh…" He stammered, swallowed hard, and then in an act of desperation reached up and snatched something from behind Nanako's ear.

"Hey," he announced, showing her the coin he'd apparently pulled from somewhere near the nape of her neck. "Look what I found. Kind of a weird place to keep a ten yen coin, right?"

He flashed Nanako a nervous, wavering smile, while she stared blankly back and forth between him and the coin.

"Not good enough anymore, huh?" Adachi sighed, feeling like an asshole. "Right, of course it's not. You're...not a little kid anymore. Dunno what I was thinking. Um…"

Nanako sniffled, wiped her eyes with the back of her hand one more time, and frowned at the coin. Adachi's heart sank. _Still can't quite cut it, _he thought angrily. _At least I freaked her out enough to get her to stop crying. What the hell, Adachi…coin tricks? Seriously? What kind of lame-ass chump am I?_

Suddenly, Nanako's arms were around Adachi's neck, and she was hugging him tightly, pressing her face against his chest and sobbing, this time much harder than before. Adachi, slightly stunned, stood there with his hands pinned to his sides, staring down at the top of Nanako's head. Eventually, he had the presence of mind to disentangle one of his arms and to give her head a little pat.

"Uh," he mumbled. Vaguely, distractedly, he became aware that Nanako's tears were soaking through the front of his shirt.

"I'm…I'm sorry," sniffled Nanako, apparently realizing the same thing. "You're all wet."

"Don't worry about it." Adachi tried to grin at her, although whatever his face was doing, it didn't feel quite like a smile.

"I love you," Nanako told him, sniffling loudly again. "Thank you for trying to cheer me up."

"Y-yeah," was all Adachi managed to say. "You're…you're welcome."

_I love you too, you miserable, dumbass kid, _he thought. He felt something tense in dissatisfaction somewhere in the depths of his soul, but he did his best to ignore it, and eventually it settled back down and dissolved into the rest of him again.

**Chapter 91: Chapter Eighty Nine: Reflection on Death**

**Author's Note: **OH NO. Fanfiction has sucked me back in again. There are so many things I should be doing right now, like finishing the script for the play that I have to send out TOMORROW, or working on my original novel, or cleaning my room, or….

But it's too late for me. I've fallen back in love with this story and now I can't seem to tear myself away.

It's going to be another long night.

**Chapter Eighty Nine: Reflection on Death**

For a few days after that, no one even suggested going into the TV world. Yu, Chie, and the rest of the investigation team got up every morning and went to work as usual, and none of them, not even Yu himself mentioned their mission or their quest. _We're hiding in our normal lives, _Yu realized one morning on his way to the school. _We're retreating from the realization that we've failed. Even though we all have our new personas now, and even though we've supposedly faced the worst things inside of ourselves, it didn't do us any good. It hasn't achieved anything. We're no closer than we were before to understanding what's causing these deaths, and the body count is going up. Togoshi-san was uncle Dojima's friend. Who will it be next?_

"Good morning, senpai!" called Ayane, waving enthusiastically and smiling at Yu as he approached the Yasogami High School gates. Yu watched as she strode past him on some errand or other. _Will it be someone else we know? Someone we love? This can't go on._

"Um, Big Bro." Nanako stopped him on his way to his classroom. "I'm glad I caught you. You woke up before me this morning. Um, Chie-san said to tell you that everyone's meeting at Junes after school today."

_Guess I'm not the only one who's thinking like this, _realized Yu. "Thank you," he told Nanako. "Of course, I'll be there. I'll come pick you up after class, and we'll go together."

"Mmmhmm." Nanako nodded. "Okay. Um…then I'll see you later."

Yu's classroom was noisy as usual when he entered. The clock on the wall said that there were still several minutes left until class was supposed to begin, and the students behaved accordingly, taking very little notice of Yu's presence.

"Hey," said a dark-haired girl to her tall, blonde friend. "Have you seen Hiro-kun today?"

"No." The blonde girl shook her head. "He's not coming. Actually, he's out all week. He's at a family funeral."

"What?" The dark-haired girl sounded surprised. "Again? But wasn't his Grandpa's funeral last week?"

"That's right," agreed the tall girl. "And then, three days later, his Grandma died, just like that. She wasn't even sick. It was like, as soon as her husband died, she didn't have anything left to live for…"

Both girls sighed. "That's so romantic," breathed the dark-haired girl.

Yu wasn't so sure. He didn't think it sounded romantic at all. To him, it sounded like just another case he hadn't managed to solve in time. _Not that we can be sure of that, of course, _he told himself. _It could be a coincidence. There's no way of knowing. That's part of what makes this case so miserable. None of these incidents look like murders. We're the only ones who suspect._

Then he shook his head, frowning. _No, _he corrected himself. _That's not entirely true. There's at least one other person who suspects that these recent deaths haven't been accidents or coincidences. The problem is, I don't think that's going to help us any. In fact, it's probably going to do more harm than good…_

The bell rang, and the chatter in the classroom slowly and reluctantly died down. Yu took a deep breath, and assumed his place at the front of the class.

"Good morning," he began. "Please open your poetry textbooks to page one hundred and twenty seven. We're going to begin with the poem on the top of the page, entitled 'Drowning – A reflection on Death.'"

**Meanwhile, at Tatsuhime shrine…**

The priest had finished, and the funeral was over. A few mourners, most of them employees of the Inaba police department, were clustered around Juro Togoshi's casket, talking amongst themselves in low voices and awkwardly clutching bouquets of flowers. As Dojima watched, the mourners began trickling out, heading back towards their cars or in the direction of the shopping district.

Detective Cho Yanase, dressed entirely in black except for Togoshi's old blue jacket, stood a few feet away from the casket, looking on. She was standing in between a tall, sweet-faced woman with well-kempt, smooth black hair, and a young school-aged boy with Togoshi's large nose planted in the middle of his blotchy, tearstained face. Yanase had one of her hands resting gently on the young boy's shoulder, and the other clasped firmly in the hand of the beautiful woman. Both the woman and her son were crying, but Yanase, again, was dry-eyed.

The difference now, thought Dojima, was that Yanase no longer looked lost. She no longer looked dejected and desperate. While Togoshi's wife and child wailed on either side of her, Yanase lent them a comforting, resilient silence.

"I'm…sorry for your loss," muttered Dojima, walking over to them. The woman looked up at him, and flashed him her best attempt at a welcoming smile.

"You must be Dojima-san," murmured Kiyoko Togoshi. "I've heard a lot about you. Juro had a lot of respect for you. He said you were 'a good man.'"

_And from him, _thought Dojima, _that's a compliment worth having._

"He was the good man," mumbled Dojima. "I could have learned a lot from him. Wish I'd had more time."

"We all wish for that." Kiyoko drew in a deep breath, and straightened her shoulders. "But we were very lucky to have the time with him that we did. We have been blessed, and we shouldn't forget it. I know I never will." Again, she smiled, and this time, Dojima felt as though she almost meant it.

""None of us will," agreed Yanase quietly. Kiyoko glanced over at Yanase, and then at Dojima, nodding to herself.

"You'll have to look after our Cho for us now, of course," Kiyoko told Dojima, squeezing Yanase's hand and then letting it fall at her side. "We're relying on you. I feel that Juro would have been comfortable with that."

"What?" Dojima blinked. "I don't-!"

"Come on, Kenji." Kiyoko wrapped an arm around her son's shoulders, and blotted at her eyes with a very damp handkerchief. "Enough of this. It's time to go. Cho, we'll be seeing you again, soon. I'll miss you, darling. If you ever want to come home, then…but no. Maybe it's for the best if we spend some time distancing ourselves from our memories. Goodbye, Cho. It won't be forever. I…wouldn't like that. Juro wouldn't have liked it, either."

Yanase opened her mouth to reply, but Kiyoko forestalled her by planting a quick kiss on top of her head. Kenji gave Yanase a hug, and then began to cry again in earnest. As his mother pulled him away, Dojima saw that Yanase's eyes followed the boy's back until both he and Kiyoko had disappeared down the road.

"I don't know if she's angry with me," murmured Yanase, more to herself than to Dojima.

"Huh?" Dojima frowned. "Why would she be angry?"

Yanase turned on him. "Because I lost him. It was my job to protect him, and I couldn't do it. I was his partner. I let him down. I let her, and Kenji…I let them all down."

_There's no point in arguing with that, _thought Dojima, _even though it's all wrong. Even if I tell her that it wasn't her fault, and that there was nothing she could have done, it won't matter. It'll stay on her conscience one way or another. Words won't help._

"You're not going back to Tokyo?" he asked instead.

Yanase shook her head "No. How can I? I have things to do, here. I can't go home until I've set this right…as right as I can. Juro deserves that, at least."

Yanase strode over the casket, which was now sitting alone in the middle of the shrine. She rested both her hands on top of it, closed her eyes, and took a deep, steadying breath. Then she turned around, and when she looked at Dojima, there was something new in her eyes that he hadn't seen there before. It was cold, and hard, not angry but desolate, and something in his soul ached to see her look at him that way.

"His murderer is here, in Inaba," murmured Yanase. "We know he's here. I don't' care how many times they say they've seen him in Nagoya. We're going to find him, sir. I know that we can do it. I'm not going home until we find him. I can't. I…there won't be any home to go back to until I do. You…understand, don't you?"

_She's gone, _realized Dojima. _That naïve rookie girl who prattled to me at the gym about looking forward to working for me and learning from me and being a part of justice for all…she's gone, now. I wonder if she'll ever be that girl again. Probably not. Grief changes a person. You can't just go back. Maybe nobody knows that better than I do._

"Yes," agreed Dojima. "I understand."

They started back together through the shopping district, each lost in his or her own thoughts.

"There's something else, " murmured Yanase as they passed the entrance to the Junes food court. "I had a dream last night."

Dojima raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"Yes." Yanase nodded. "I was in a strange blue room with a beautiful, blond woman. She looked so sad…" Yanase bit her lip. "She told me that…that I shouldn't leave you." Even in her current state, Yanase's voice faltered a bit as she said that, and she glanced at Dojima out of the corner of her eye, as though to gage his reaction. "She told me I should stay by your side, and that I shouldn't let anything happen to you. She said I shouldn't let you be alone…or be a victim. I…well, I promised her that I would do that. That I'd stay with you."

"Uh." Dojima wasn't sure what to say to that. _Sounds nuts to me, _he admitted to himself, although he wouldn't have said it out loud for any money. _Then again, in light of the way things have been going lately, I guess I can't argue with it. Sure have been a lot of victims. Maybe that's what she's been thinking of. Doesn't want to lose the one person she has left around here, and who can blame her?_

"So…may I stay here?" Yanase was still watching him, chewing hard on her lower lip. "I promise to do everything I can to help the force. I promise that I'll find this Adachi, Dojima-san. I swear it to you."

"Yeah, 'course you can stay," muttered Dojima. "Wasn't ever in question. You're one of us, anyway. Besides, Mrs. Togoshi told me to look out for you, remember? Doesn't look like the kind of woman I'd want to cross."

"You're right." Yanase managed a smile. "She isn't. This time, though, sir, I'll be looking out for you."

**Some time later, at the Junes food court…**

"It's bad," sighed Yukiko, as she sat down amongst the rest of the team around a long Junes table. "Everywhere I go, I hear people talking about new incidents. One of the waitresses at the inn recently lost her brother and her sister-in-law within the same month. They were both in their late thirties. They weren't even sick…"

"Ma says three of her old college friends croaked two weeks ago," grunted Kanji." Heard about it in a letter from another friend, or something. Seems weird, right?"

"Yes, it does." Yu sighed. "It could be related, although it's really difficult to tell."

Chie groaned. "What are we all just sitting around here, for? We should be in there, in the TV, trying to figure this out! We're running out of time!"

There were murmurs of assent from the group. Naoto shook her head.

"Chie-senpai is correct, of course," she murmured. "The fact remains, however, that with no further leads, we run very little chance of getting any closer to the solution of this mystery. Even though the police department has finally elected to look on the death of Juro Togoshi as a murder rather than as a suicide, it fails to help us in any way. The authorities are convinced that Adachi-san is behind the murders of both Chief Taiga, and Detective Togoshi. We know for a fact that he has nothing to do with either case."

"Yeah," mumbled Yosuke. "Well, I guess that's true."

Nanako shot him a look, and Yu was surprised see that Yosuke ducked his head, apparently embarrassed in the face of Nanako's disapproval.

"There's…something else that we must discuss," continued Naoto, resting her eyes briefly on Yosuke before transferring her attention back to Yu. "The efforts of the Inaba police department have noticeably redoubled, of late, for obvious reasons. It is imperative that Adachi-san remain within the TV world at all times. If he ventures out now, there is no doubt that he will be caught."

"So?" Yosuke shrugged. "Let them catch the guy. Who cares? Not our problem."

Again, Nanako opened her mouth to speak, but Naoto forestalled her with a hand. "Unfortunately, Yosuke-senpai, that is not entirely correct. While Adachi-san is, indeed, an escaped convict, and his arrest would be nothing but appropriately conducted justice, we cannot allow him to be arrested for a murder that he did not commit. For one thing, if they locate him, the Inaba police will immediately cease looking for the true culprit, and we will lose any chance of receiving aid or information from that quarter. Also, if Adachi is located and it is learned that we were aware of his presence in Inaba, one or more of us may be considered and held as accomplices."

Yosuke blinked. "Accomplice? To that guy? Crap, that's…that's probably a fate worse than death. Ugh…it's true, though, isn't it? We kinda…are his accomplices."

"No we're not!" Nanako was adamant. "He didn't kill anyone, so he didn't commit a crime, and so he can't have accomplices in the first place."

_He's committed plenty of crimes, _thought Yu. _We're guilty of helping a convicted murderer hide from the police. That's…pretty bad._

"In any case," he said, placing a warning hand on Nanako's shoulder, "Adachi needs to be more careful, and so do we. If the police have started working harder, then we need to work as hard as we can as well. We know that the police aren't likely to find anyone who can enter the TV world. It's up to us, just like it's always been. There has to be something that we're missing."

Chie sighed. "Yeah," she agreed, "I get that. But…if we're missing something, I seriously don't know what it is. I'm completely stumped…"

**Chapter 92: Chapter Ninety: Ready**

**Author's Note: **More Adachi and Nanako for tonight, as we get rapidly closer and closer to the big finale.

**Chapter Ninety: Ready**

Nanako spent the whole rest of the day thinking about what Yu had said to her and the rest of the investigation team at their Junes meeting. She stayed up most of that night thinking about it, and struggled to focus during class time the following day. Her teacher had to call her name three times to get her to stand up and answer a question and she was too worried and distracted to bother eating the lunch that Yu had made for her the night before.

The word _accomplice _kept floating around in her mind, foreign and unwelcome, but somehow unexpectedly thrilling at the same time.

_Is it really as bad as Big Bro says? _she wondered. _Is everyone really so sure that Adachi-san killed Togoshi-san? But there's no proof! There's no reason for anyone to think like that! It's stupid!_

Every time she started thinking like that, however, Nanako remembered the desperate, drawn look on Detective Yanase's face, and the way that she'd struggled to choke her sobs off into her pillow all night long. Nanako knew she had. She hadn't cried in front of Dad, but Nanako had heard her through the door on that first night. She'd stayed awake and listened, terrified that something would happen to Yanase in the middle of the night.

_Or…maybe I was really worried about Dad, _realized Nanako. _Maybe I was afraid for him, too._

Of course, Nanako knew that Adachi hadn't done it. She was so certain that it wasn't worth wasting time thinking about it, even.

_But everyone else thinks he did it, _she reminded herself, _and Togoshi was really well liked by everyone. People will be angry, and they'll want to pay Adachi back. They'll be looking for him even more than they were before. Big Bro was right…_

As soon as school was over, Nanako hurried to the shopping district and used the Velvet Room door. She rushed into the Velvet Room to find Adachi seated glumly on the floor, staring at his hands, while Igor and Margaret maintained their typically impassive silence nearby.

"Welcome," began Igor, "to the Velvet Room."

Adachi looked up with a half-finished frown forming on his face, then saw Nanako and struggled instantly to his feet. For some reason, he didn't say anything. He gave her a small, hesitant sort of grin, then opened his mouth, closed it, and let his face go blank again, as though he suddenly wasn't sure of his next move.

"Uh…hi there," he said eventually. Then, apparently noticing the upset look in Nanako's eyes, he frowned, and added, "Whoa, what's-?"

"You have to leave,"interrupted Nanako, more loudly in her excitement than she'd intended. "You have to go away. Now. It's…you have to."

Adachi blinked. "Wait, what? What are you talking about? I'm not going anywhere. Didn't we agree that I was supposed to stay here? You made me promise to stick around inside the TV. Well, that's what I did, isn't it?"

"No, you don't understand," insisted Nanako, frustrated. "Everything's different, now. You have to go, quickly. Um, maybe today. Yeah, you should go really soon! That'd be better."

"Heh," grunted Adachi, his face darkening slightly. "Yeah? You think so? Man…and just when I was starting to sort of like it here. I was just starting to have some real fun. Thought you kinda liked having me around, actually. Not that I was ever that good at reading people…"

Nanako stamped her foot impatiently. "Stop being stupid!" she shot at him. "You have to leave quick, because everyone in Inaba things you killed Togoshi-san! They're looking for you, and Big Bro says they're probably going to catch you this time if you aren't really, really careful."

"Oh, yeah?" Adachi looked surprised. "Wait, who's this Togoshi guy again? Pretty sure I didn't kill him. I mean, it hasn't happened so many times that I've lost track of names and faces, or anything."

"I know you didn't." Nanako was looking fiercely at her feet now. "I know you didn't, but…no one is going to believe me. Even Yosuke doesn't really believe me. He says he does, but he doesn't. He…he wants it to be you, too. I...I think he'd like that after all. But I know that it wasn't you!"

Nanako could feel tears of frustration welling up in her eyes, and she rubbed angrily at them, determined not to dissolve into a sniveling mess the way she had the last time she'd visited this room. She was clenching both her fists at her sides and willing herself to get it together when she felt Adachi's two fingers underneath her chin, gently forcing her face up to look at him.

"Hey," he said, looking at her much more seriously than he had since she'd arrived. "Look, I didn't kill that guy."

"I know," sniffled Nanako. "I already told you-!"

"If you know, then what the hell are you crying about?" asked Adachi, shrugging. "Come on, admit it. Maybe a little part of you isn't so sure, right? Part of you thinks maybe it was me. It's been eating you up inside. Don't bother telling me I'm wrong. You're an open book. It's written all over your face."

_Maybe that's true, _thought Nanako. _Maybe a little part of me did wonder. Maybe that's the real reason I couldn't sleep last night, or concentrate today. Maybe I just wanted to hear him say it._Looking at him now ,she couldn't really believe that he might have done it. No matter what anyone else said, and no matter what she knew had to be true, Nanako had never really been able to force herself to see Adachi as a cold blooded killer.

"No," she insisted, shaking her head. "I know you didn't do it. I'm…sorry. I believe you. I always believed you."

Adachi sighed, and shook his head. "Nah," he muttered, "don't worry about it. Probably would have been better if you weren't so damn sure. Somebody's gotta talk you out of being so trusting. You're gonna get yourself hurt. Maybe more than that."

"You need to leave,' reiterated Nanako.

Adachi shook his head. "Can't," he reminded her. "Your brother'd lose his shit if I ran away, and your precious 'justice league', or whatever the hell they call themselves these days would hunt me down and lock me up again anyway. It's no use. I'm stuck here. And hey, it's not like anyone else can get into this room, right? Only people with personas end up in here, and everybody with a persona already knows where to find me. So…there's nothing to worry about. That good enough for you?"

"No," mumbled Nanako. "It's not good enough. You have to promise me that you're gonna be really careful, okay? I mean…really, really careful. I…I don't want you to go back to jail. I'm afraid they'll…" She trailed off, and bit down hard on her lower lip.

"You're afraid they're gonna kill me, huh?" asked Adachi quietly. "Is that what this all about? Now that everybody thinks I've killed again, you think they're gonna stop messing around and take me out of the game, just to be on the safe side?"

Nanako nodded wordlessly. The tears started building up in her eyes again.

"Hey, come on." Adachi's voice had softened. "Quit crying. You're worrying about nothing. No one's gonna find me here. And yeah, I'll be careful. I promise, okay?"

"Okay," agreed Nanako, nodding. "If you promise."

Adachi grinned at her, and Nanako took a deep breath. She tried smiling back at him, and then turned around started back towards the Velvet Room door.

"That's right," she muttered, more to herself than to him. "There's nothing to be worried about. You don't have anything to be afraid if you're really innocent…or at least, that's what Dad always says. And…and you didn't kill him."

"Nope," called Adachi after Nanako's retreating back. _Not this time, anyway, _he thought. The door closed behind her, and Adachi waited a few moments until he was sure that she was really gone.

"Okay," he sighed, turning around to face one of the shadowy corners of the Velvet Room. "She's gone. What is it now?."

Yu Narukami stepped quietly out of the shadows. "I didn't know if you'd seen me come in," he said.

Adachi rolled his eyes. "I'm a detective, and you're an amateur when it comes to sneaking around," he muttered. "No way I wasn't gonna notice you. So, what do you want? Come to make sure I wasn't gonna skip town?"

"No." Yu shook his head. "I wanted to see if Nanako would be here. I thought she'd come to warn you. I was right."

"Congratulations," mumbled Adachi sarcastically. "Another brilliant deduction by the famously successful Narukami kid. So? What does it get you? You spying on your little sister just for shits and giggles, now? And people say I'm the creepy one…"

"She believes in you," said Yu.

_Here we go again, _thought Adachi, annoyed. "Yeah," he retorted. "I got that, thanks. Can't seem to talk her out of it…and it's not like I haven't tried. Kid's as stubborn as her pain-in-the-ass dad, most of the time."

For a long moment, Yu didn't say anything. Adachi looked away from him, yawning hugely and feigning nonchalance.

"Not that it's any of my business what she wants to believe," he said, into a silence that was making him increasingly nervous. "I mean, hell, it really doesn't have anything to do with me. Let her play make-believe if that's what makes her happy. It's not as though she-!"

"Shut up," said Yu.

He said it without any rancor or malice, but firmly enought o cut through Adachi's babbling monologue.

"Stop pretending to be so cool and self-impressed," he went on. "I'm not interested in hearing the bravado. You're not convincing anyone; not even yourself."

Adachi seethed, and tried not to show it. "Oh yeah?" he asked. "Is that so? Then what did you come here to hear?"

"I came to ask you a question," countered Yu. "I want to know something, and I want you think about it for a minute before you answer me. Really think about it. Don't just turn it into some kind of joke."

"What?" asked Adachi impatiently.

"Do you want to be the person that Nanako thinks you are?" Yu was still staring directly at Adachi, and Adachi was finding it harder and harder to meet his eyes. He sneered, doing his best to hold on to his dismissive attitude, but Yu's eyes were boring holes into a soul that even Adachi didn't feel comfortable looking at too closely.

"I'm not that guy," he mumbled. "No matter what she thinks, I'm not that guy."

"But you could be," countered Yu. "If you wanted to be, I think you could be that person for her. I think a little bit of that person is in there. Nanako is very good at finding the best in people. Maybe she's found your best. If you let her, then maybe she can help you find it, too."

Adachi didn't have a good response for that. The idea of telling Yu just how badly he wanted Nanako to help him find that elusively positive part of himself made him sick to his arrogant stomach. He couldn't face it.

"I thought you said you were giving up on me," he managed, listening to the hoarse uncertainty in his own voice.

"I thought I was," agreed Yu. "But lately, I've started to think that maybe I was wrong. When we faced each other all of those years ago in the TV world, and I told you that I thought you could still start over…I was naïve, and I was sad. I wanted to believe that you were interested in atoning for your crimes, and that you had regrets. I wanted to think that you wanted to start over, mostly because I wanted to believe in the person I'd thought you were. Unfortunately, I was wrong, and you weren't that persno. You weren't ready, then. You couldn't imagine trying to start again. You couldn't have faced it."

"And now?" Adachi heard himself ask, unable despite himself to derail the conversation.

"And now," finished Yu, "I think you might be ready after all."

Yu, in Adachi's experience, had always been the master of exiting on the right, dramatic line. This time was no different, and he turned away just as Adachi was trying to figure out an appropriately cutting remark to make.

"Nanako's right, by the way," Yu called over his shoulder as he pulled open the Velvet Room door. "You need to be careful. None of us can risk you getting caught at this stage." Then he passed through the door and shut it behind him.

"Dumbass," muttered Adachi into the ensuing stillness. His heart, however, wasn't in it.

**Chapter 93: Chapter Ninety One: Suspicion**

**Author's Note: **It's gonna be a very late night for me while I sort through some emails and get this and that done, so maybe I'll be able to post more than one chapter tonight. Here's hoping.

We are SO CLOSE to the end that I'm really eager to push through and finish this!

**Chapter Ninety One: Suspicion**

"I'm so sleepy," mumbled Chie indistinctly, as she, Naoto, and Dojima sat around their desk at the station first thing in the morning. "Yu had me up all night long looking through names and dates…I think I went to sleep at, like, maybe one o'clock? Ugh..how am I supposed to be at my best when I never get any rest? "

"I'm sorry," murmured Naoto. "It sounds as though you've been working hard. I've been doing the same, of course. Kanji-kun and I spent most of last evening patrolling the shopping district and making inquiries as to whether or not the shop owners have seen any suspicious or unfamiliar persons over the span of the last three months. I know that Yu-senpai was asking similar questions of the students and faculty at Yasogami High, and Rise-chan has been employing her fan network to glean any and all possible information."

"Oh yeah?" Chie looked impressed. "Wow, so, I guess I shouldn't complain. Everybody's really going all out on this. Uh, well, of course we are, right?" She laughed, a little sheepishly. "So, did you find anything?"

Naoto shook her head, clearly frustrated. "No…unfortunately, we've learned nothing new. No one that any of us has spoken to seems to be able to identify any newcomers to the Inaba area, other than the occasional visiting family member. We have been completely unable to identify any single person who had any known contact with more than one of the victims. Other than through the personal connections of which we are already aware, there seem to be very few similarities in the situations and lifestyles of Officer Fujioka, Chief Taiga, and Detective Togoshi."

"Aw, man…" Chie grimaced. "Back to where we started after all…"

Dojima, who had been only half-listening to this conversation while he tried to focus on a report he was reading, looked up and frowned. "We don't need to find any more similarities," he muttered. "No one's in any doubt as to who committed these crimes."

"Well, yeah, but…" Chie glanced briefly at Naoto. "I mean, there's no proof that it was actually Adachi who did it, right? Nobody's even really sure if he's still in Inaba!"

Dojima glowered darkly at his pencil. "It was him. It has to have been him. A convicted murderer suddenly breaks out of prison, and a few days later people in his hometown start to die? There's not much chance of coincidence, here. It's Adachi, all right."

"R-right." Chie sighed. "Yeah, well, when you look at it like that…"

Out of the corner of his eye, Dojima could see Yanase standing over by her own desk, which still bore signs of Togoshi's recent presence. She had her hands shoved down into her pockets, and she was staring, apparently lost in thought, at a series of a child's drawings which Togoshi had pinned up all over his bulletin board. Dojima had heard him say, once, that his son had drawn those pictures for him, and that young Kenji had been sending them from Tokyo ever since his father had left.

"Ah." Naoto seemed to have noticed Yanase's activities as well. "Excuse me a minute." Getting to her feet, Naoto crossed over to Yanase's desk.

"Forgive me, Detective," she murmured, "but we could use your assistance with some of these files. Would you mind joining us at our desk? We will find you an extra chair."

"Oh, sure! Yeah, there's totally another chair around here somewhere." Chie began actively searching for the promised chair.

"Of course." Agreed Yanase quietly, giving Naoto an absent sort of nod. "I'll be there in…just a minute." Then she turned back to her own desk.

To Dojima's surprise, Naoto placed a hand on Yanase's shoulder, and guided her around towards his desk. "Now, if you please. Please, understand that dwelling on the past achieves nothing. It is important for us to continue looking forward, not back at what has already happened. You will only upset yourself if you continue to allow your grief free reign."

_Uh, wow, _thought Dojima, as Chie located a chair, and Naoto made sure that Yanase sat in it. _It's not like Shirogane to start talking about personal stuff. I didn't even think those two knew each other that well._

Across the desk, Chie and Naoto were sharing another of their significant looks. Dojima grimaced.

_They're up to something again, _he realized.

"Sir?" Yanase was peering over his shoulder. "What's this?"

Dojima pushed the papers across to her. "I'm looking over some old statements from ten years ago," he informed her. "They're reports that came in after Adachi's arrest. Lots of people claimed to have seen him behaving strangely or sneaking around once they'd heard that he'd been charged."

"Yes," agreed Naoto. "Most of it was foolishness. People seem to enjoy being part of a murder case, whether they've actually seen anything or not."

Chie shrugged. "Yeah, I guess they just like the thrill of it all. That's human nature. You can't really blame them too much…"

Yanase nodded politely in Chie's direction, but she didn't really seem to be listening. Instead, she was now gazing intently at the report in front of Dojima. "That makes sense," she murmured. "Dojima-san, I'd like to see the rest of these reports, if that's all right with you. And…his confession. Do you think I could see a copy of Adachi's confession to the first two crimes?"

Suddenly, the atmosphere around the desk got very tense. "His confession?" Dojima shook his head. "You won't get much out of that. It never made a lot of sense to me. All this stuff about throwing people into TVs, and being attacked by monsters. It was like something out of a kid's superhero program."

He pretended to dismiss the whole thing casually, but managed to watch Naoto and Chie out of the corner of his eye while he spoke to Yanase. Naoto and Chie were now both looking distinctly uncomfortable, and Chie opened her mouth once as though she were going to add something. Naoto glared at Chie, and Chie shut her mouth quickly again. "Ow," she whispered, as though someone, probably Naoto, had kicked her under the table.

_So, _decided Dojima. _I'm not crazy. They do know something._

Yanase shifted slightly beside him, also watching Naoto and Chie.

_And, _he added in his head, glancing over at her, _looks like Yanase's noticed it, too._

**Later that day, at the TV station…**

Yu had only a very vague idea of what he was doing here.

After his classes were done for the day, he'd spent an hour or so in his office, just sitting as his desk and thinking through everything he'd learned from the students, the faculty, and from the investigations conducted by his friends.

_Nothing, _he thought miserably. _We learned nothing. There's absolutely nothing going on in town or even in the nearby city that's suspicious in any way. Well, no, that's not entirely true. There are only two things wrong with what's been happening in Inaba. Firstly, there's a convicted killer on the loose, and we at least know that he's still in this town. Secondly, people are dying in large numbers. Other than that…_

Yet, somehow, despite the how obvious the situation looked, Yu was certain that Adachi had nothing to do with these recent murders. Igor and Margaret seemed certain, and they were able to account for Adachi's whereabouts most of the time.

_And that, _he realized with a sigh, _leaves us nowhere, with no leads, and no clues. At least when we investigated the murders ten years ago, we had something to go on. The midnight channel old us when the victim was going to be attacked. Once we'd seen the person's face, we could save them. Every time we saved someone, we got a little bit closer to the truth; one more clue or one more idea as to who it was we were supposed to be looking for. This time, it's not so simple._

He passed through a crowd of chattering, gesticulating people leaving from one of the large conference rooms in the TV station.

_This time, _he thought, _the midnight channel doesn't help us at all. All we're seeing on the midnight channel now is a reflection of someone we miss or can't let go of. We're looking inside our own souls; not into anyone else's. All we can see is what we already really know is inside us, and so we have no clue to who the next victim is going to be. We can't save people if we have no idea who they are, and the deaths are happening so quickly and in such high numbers that there wouldn't be much chance of our stepping in and saving lives even if we did know who we were supposed to be protecting next. We can't talk to the victims and ask them to give us information. By the time we're on the scene, the victims are dead. How, then, are we going to have any chance of solving this case? It's like nothing we've ever faced before. We're out of our depth, and we're all starting to realize it._

These were, of course, the same thoughts that Yu had been turning over in his head for hours, now. Nothing was coming of thinking and rethinking the same thoughts, and so he was hoping to do something constructive, for a change. The desire to do something constructive had subsequently led him to the local TV station, even though part of him still wasn't convinced that he had any real business here.

"Hey," said Marie, stepping out of the crowd and heading straight for him. "You're here."

"Yeah," agreed Yu. "I'm here."

"She's not here, though." Marie shrugged. "That Suzume girl, I mean. I've looked everywhere. I even slept in the basement last night with the door unlocked. Ugh, it was really gross down there…but she didn't come. She's gone, I guess."

Yu realized that he'd been expecting to hear that.

Marie was watching him with a little frown on her face. "So…you think she's the one?"

Yu shook his head. "No, I don't. I don't think she could have done it. No one in town has ever met her or seen her, as far as I can tell. She has no connections to any of the victims that we know about. She seems completely harmless, but…"

"But?" Marie raised an eyebrow.

"But," sighed Yu, "I can't rule it out. Yosuke met her not long before the incidents began, and…" He stopped, not quite sure how to put his concerns into words.

"Yeah," agreed Marie. "Okay. And isn't it kind of weird that no one's met her? I mean…this place is so small, and it's really loud. Everyone talks about everyone else. Everybody knows everyone else. Sometimes, I hate it, but sometimes I really like it. Anyway." For just a moment, Marie's guard dropped, and she smiled to herself. "What I mean is, I think if there were really nothing wrong with her, we'd all have seen her before, you know? So, I'll help you look. We'll find her, and we'll get the truth out of her." Marie slammed one fist into the palm of her other hand decisively.

Yu nodded. "I was hoping you'd say that. There's something that I need your help with. She's a fan of yours. She came here just to see you and to be with you. If you ask her to meet you somewhere, I think she'll come."

"Ask her to come, huh?" Marie frowned. "Um, okay, sure, fine. But, won't I have to find her, first?"

Yu had already thought of that. "You can do it on television," he suggested. "Say something like, 'Suzume-san, I've been meaning to talk to you. Come and find me at the station,' and then tell her when."

"Yeah, well…I guess that could work." Marie looked annoyed. "I'll get in a lot of trouble for doing that, though. Did you think of that? I mean, it's not like I run a missed connections program, or anything. I'm supposed to be doing the weather."

Yu reached out and gave Marie a little pat the shoulder. He noticed her cheeks go slightly pink, although he pretended he hadn't seen.

"You're their star weatherwoman," he reminded her. "They'd never risk losing you. They probably won't even bother reprimanding you. Still, if you don't want to do it, then I can't and won't try to force you. If you think you really might risk your job, then…"

Marie threw up her hands. "Hey, it's fine. I already said its fine already, okay? I'll do it. You're right; they're not gonna fire me. It's not like they're ever gonna find another weathergirl who's as accurate as I am, right?" She smirked. "Okay. I'll do it on tomorrow's news. You be ready, got it? I'm only gonna do this once."

_Right, _thought Yu. _And if it turns out that she has nothing to do with any of this, then I'll be sorry, and I'll feel stupid…but at least then we'll know for certain. That'll eliminate one suspect, at any rate._

**Chapter 94: Chapter Ninety Two: Monsters**

**Author's Note: **Hooray for more Dojima! I love writing Dojima…he's rapidly becoming a favorite character of mine.

So, I'm home most of the day today. Let's see how much I can get written…

**Chapter Ninety Two: Monsters**

Dojima, Nanako, and Yu were sitting around the breakfast table the next morning when weathergirl Mariko Kusumi's program came on.

"Hey, Big Bro," began Nanako. "You know something? Kusumi-san's kind of scary in person. She's…also pretty cool, though, don't you think?"

"I do, yeah." Yu didn't look like he was paying very attention to Nanako. Instead, he was now intently watching the weather.

Dojima frowned. _Didn't know he cared that much about the weather. Oh, wait, doesn't he know that Kusumi woman? Yeah, she's been to the house a few times. My nephew makes some pretty weird friends. First all of those misfits from high school, and this weathergirl…and then most recently that homeless chick. Where'd he pick her up? I guess he's an attractive kid, but…_

"Today," began Kusumi, talking quickly with a slightly bored look on her face, "it's gonna be sunny all day. Isn't that great? Yeah, it's great. Anyway." She didn't sound as though she was particular interested in today's weather. "Um, so, look. Suzume-san, if you're out there listening, and I know you probably are, then I need to talk to you. It's important. I'll be at the Junes food court, today at noon. I won't wait long, so you'd better show up, okay?"

"Oh!" Nanako sat bolt upright in her chair. "Big Bro, Dad! She's talking about Suzume-san! Does she know where Suzume-san is? Is…is she okay? What's this 'important' thing that they have to talk about?"

"That's none of our business, Nanako," muttered Dojima, still watching Yu. "Strange that she decided to make an announcement like that on the morning weather program. She'll get a reprimand, for sure. Whatever it is she wants to talk about, it must be pretty important."

Nanako laughed. "You say it's none of our business, Dad, but you're as curious as I am." She smiled at him, but he was too busy observing the tense, excited look on Yu's face.

"Sorry uncle," mumbled Yu, getting up from his seat. "I need to get to school. Nanako, are you coming?"

"Of course!" Nanako jumped up as well, and after waving a quick goodbye to Dojima, they both left the house and made for Yu's car.

Dojima sat at the table, still frowning at the television, while the weather program ended and a commercial began to play. Then he turned off the television, cleaned up the dishes, and started off in his car for the police station.

When he arrived, Naoto and Yanase were already sitting at their desk, and Chie was just making her way across the room, apparently having just gotten in.

"Naoto!" exclaimed Chie, grabbing the chair just next to her friend and leaning in close. "Did you hear? Did you see the weather this morning?"

"I did, yes." Naoto nodded.

"So, then, Yu already talked to you?" insisted Chie.

"Yes," repeated Naoto, still not taking her eyes off of her work. "I'll be ready, of course."

"Ready for what?" asked Yanase. Both of the other two women looked up sharply, apparently having been unaware that Yanase was evening listening to their conversation.

"Oh, uh…" Chie glanced briefly at Naoto, who nodded once. Chie took a deep breath. "Okay, um. Do you promise not to tell anyone? It's kind of a big secret, and people in this town love to talk…it could be all over Inaba in a couple of hours. So…please?"

"I won't tell a soul," Yanase assured her.

"Okay." Chie nodded. "Well, that announcement on the news this morning? You know, the one about Suzume-san? Oh, no, but you couldn't have seen it. You went in early, right?"

"I did," agreed Yanase, who had left the Dojima residence early that morning to use the station gym. She'd been doing that every morning, in fact, since she'd started sleeping on the Dojima family couch. Dojima wondered if maybe she was uncomfortable having breakfast with the rest of them. He wondered if she felt somehow unwelcome.

"This morning," continued Naoto, taking over for Chie, "Miss Mariko Kusumi of the local news station announced that she was interested in meeting with a certain Suzume Moto, a resident of this town. Miss Kusumi is a friend of ours from many years ago, and she recently introduced us to this same Suzume Moto."

"Yeah," agreed Chie." But Suzume's been having some hard times lately, and we're all kinda worried about her…so, we're going to throw her a kind of party at Junes, to let her know how much we care! We don't want her to feel like she's all alone while she's struggling, you know? And she really likes Marie…I mean, Kusumi-san, so we figured Marie would be the right person to set the trap."

"The trap for the surprise party, you mean," murmured Yanase.

"Exactly." Naoto nodded. "And so, you understand of course why we can't allow this secret to get out."

"It would totally spoil the surprise!" added Chie.

"I see." Yanase was smiling, now. "It's a very sweet idea. I'm sorry for prying."

Naoto and Chie smiled back, and all three women went back to their work.

_It sounded like truth to me, _thought Dojima. _Satonaka…no, Narukami's not a very good liar, and I don't think she was lying about wanting to meet up with this Suzume girl at Junes. Maybe I'm imagining things again. Maybe I'm just too damn suspicious for my own good. Then again…that's my job. I wouldn't be much of a detective if I let everything get past me._

"Whatcha working on?" asked Chie, glancing over Yanase's shoulder at the stacks of paper she was slowly but methodically reading through.

Yanase gestured at the papers. "I've been looking through old reports," she replied. "This is all of the information obtained about Tohru Adachi during the wrap-up of the murder case ten years ago. I was up most of last night going through old folders and leaving messages on phones, but I think I really do have all of it, now."

Chie winced, but Naoto looked slightly impressed. Dojima leaned over to see, and raised an eyebrow.

Everything known about Adachi seemed to be laid out in front of Yanase. There were countless photographs of the man in different places, outfits, and poses. These included his prison mug shot, of course, as well as a more recent prison photo, taken to satisfy some kind of verification requirement that had everything to do with the prison and nothing to do with the investigation. Dojima found that he had a hard time looking at those photos. The man in the photos from ten years ago and the man in the recent prison photo looked like two totally different people. The only real similarity was the hunted, resentful look in the eyes.

"Wow…" muttered Chie. "Uh, there's really a lot of stuff here. What's this, personal information? Huh, I never knew had a girlfriend in Inaba. Whoa, wait, really? Hey, I think I know that name from somewhere…"

"I'll be speaking with this woman, of course," returned Yanase.

Dojima shook his head. "It's been tried," he told her. "The chief and I talked to her a while ago. She doesn't know anything, and the relationship was more than ten years ago. All we got out of her was that she'd be delighted to see the guy caught. Other than that, nothing."

"That doesn't matter." Yanase did look slightly frustrated, but not as much so as Dojima would have expected. "I want to learn about her. I want to know what she's like, and where she works. It'll help us get a better idea as to what sort of person this Adachi is."

_It'll be considered harassment of an innocent woman, _thought Dojima, _unless you can really make a case to the higher-ups as to why you need to question her. Like I said, it's been ten years. She's not gonna like being bothered again._

"And, um, aren't these his phone records from ten years ago?" Chie was staring doubtfully at one of the files. "Wait, how did you even get these? These didn't even come into evidence at this trial, right? So, uh…"

"Again," repeated Yanase doggedly, "I'll need them to learn more about him. I want to know everything that I can. The more I know, the easier it will be to locate him."

_Do you really need to know how many times he ordered takeout from Aiya? _wondered Dojima, frowning at the phone records. _I like to see people putting in the extra effort, but this may be a bit much. I don't think it's going to get her anywhere._

"You're creating a psychological profile," remarked Naoto. "I understand. It's similar to the sort of work that Togoshi-san was performing on records left by Chief Taiga, correct?"

Yanase nodded, looking a little relieved. "Yes. Um…that's right."

"Oh!" Chie's voice was a bit too loud. "Well, that's cool. Are you, uh, any good at psychological stuff? I'm really not. I get kind of lost in it. I'm better at the more active, straightforward stuff."

For a moment, Yanase seemed to have to think about that. "No," she admitted eventually. "I don't have any training in any of this. It was always Juro's job to do this kind of thing with the suspects. But…" Frowning, she shook her head. "That doesn't matter. I have to do it. I have to be good at it. So…I will be. I'll make myself good at it." There was a determined sort of desperation in that statement that made Dojima feel queasy.

_That's not really how life works, _he thought unhappily. _All the effort in the world isn't gonna make up for a lack of training. You have no idea what you're doing, do you?_

Chie looked down at her watch. "Oh, crap! Hey, Naoto, we really have to quit talking and get back to work if we're gonna be at Junes by noon. It's already almost ten o'clock!"

"For the surprise party," said Yanase, looking straight at Chie.

Chie flinched a little under the stare, but then mumbled, "Yeah…right! Of course!"

The next couple of hours stretched on in diligent silence. Dojima struggled to ignore the way that Yanase was reading and re-reading one document after another, then placing them together in stacks or alongside photographs and staring at them until her eyes began to cross. The longer this went on, the more frustrated she became, until Dojima felt that he had to get up and to get a cup of coffee if only to take a few minutes away from the embarrassing futility of Yanase's attempts at psychological profiling.

He was relieved, therefore, when Chie's watch began to beep.

"Oops," she said, standing up. "It's noon. Naoto and I are taking our lunch break. We'll come back right after, okay? Um…good luck, Detective Yanase. Dojima-san, sir."

"We'll see you shortly," agreed Naoto, nodding at them both as she and Chie made for the exit.

For a few minutes after the two women left, Dojima and Yanase continued their work.

"Want some coffee?" asked Dojima. "Maybe you should take a break, too. Might do both of us some good."

"I'm fine, sir," replied Yanase.

Dojima sighed. "Look," he began. "Cho, about this thing you're doing. You can't just-!"

"They know something, don't they?" interrupted Yanase unexpectedly, in that same quiet, slightly strained tone of voice she'd been using all morning. Dojima shut his mouth and blinked at her, then took a deep breath.

"Yeah," he muttered. "Yeah, they sure do."

"Then…aren't we going after them?" Yanase was looking at him expectantly. "We are going to follow them, aren't we, sir? I know that Officer Narukami is your niece of course, and I don't mean to imply that she's in any way involved, but if she and Detective Shirogane really do know something, then…"

Yanase trailed off uncertainly, probably having seen the closed look in Dojima's eyes.

"Sir?" she asked. "What-?"

"You don't understand," muttered Dojima. "You weren't there. It's…not that simple."

Yanase said nothing, waiting politely for him to explain. He sighed.

"Narukami and Shirogane, and my nephew, too…they were all involved in that case ten years ago," he told her. "You won't see it in any of those reports, but they're the ones who finally caught Adachi the first time."

"I…I see,' murmured Yanase.

_No you don't, _thought Dojima. _There's plenty about that case that even I still don't understand._

"That stuff I was saying before, about throwing people into TVs, and monsters…that's all stuff that my nephew and his friends confirmed. They swore to me that most of it was true, and they kept going on and on about the existence of this 'other world' where everything was messed up and it looked like the insides of our heads." He scowled, remembering the way that Yu had insisted on that story even after Dojima had begun to lose his temper. It had, now that he thought about it, happened on more than one occasion, too.

"Dojima-san…" Yanase spoke carefully. "Are you saying…that some of it was true? That you actually believe some of these testimonies about 'other worlds?' I assumed that was all just a prisoner prattling on and on to try and save his own life. I thought…"

"I don't know what to believe anymore," mumbled Dojima. "My daughter was kidnapped during that case. I guess you know that already, though. Something, I don't know what, tried to kill her that night, and it wasn't Adachi. Yeah, he was to blame for the kidnappings, but something else…infected her. It got inside of her and started sucking the life out of her. I don't want to believe that there's anything to the 'other world' idea. I know that can't be true. Everything I've ever learned and all the training I've ever had to be a detective tells me that there's no such thing as magic or monsters. But…something tried to kill my daughter. Narukami and Shirogane know what it was. They've seen it. They've faced it. If we force them, or press them, we'll get them to tell us what that thing is. We may have to go and find it for ourselves, and I…I'm not sure I'm ready to find out. Maybe I don't really want to know just how much truth there is behind the idea that there's something else out there that wants to destroy us. I can deal with facts. I can face and cope with hard, ugly, unpleasant truths. But this supernatural, magicky crap…I don't what the hell I'm supposed to do with that."

He hadn't meant to tell her any of that. He hadn't expected to be sharing it with anyone. That kind of trepidation had been pressed to the farthest back corner of Dojima's mind for ten years, now, where he wouldn't have to examine it too closely.

_But she deserves answers, _he knew. _She lost her partner. She's angry, she's grieving, and what's worse, she's not wrong. Narukami and Shirogane do know something, and they've known something for a long time. It just may not be something that we, in this world, can do anything about. That's what keeps me up at night. I can't stand the idea that, in the end, none of this was ever under our control to begin with. I can't…I don't want to have to accept that._

"That's…" whispered Yanase, obviously shaken.

"I never expected you to believe me," muttered Dojima, cutting her off.

Yanase opened her mouth, and then closed it again. Her eyes narrowed, and she gave him a look of startled disappointment that wrenched at something in Dojima's chest.

"You're afraid," she accused him.

"Yeah," he grunted. "Guess I am."

Very slowly, Yanase got up from her chair, and pushed it back in towards the desk. She put on her coat, and then gazed quietly at Dojima for a moment.

"Well," she murmured, "I'm not afraid. There's no such thing as monsters, sir. At least, not the kind that have apparently been living under you bed for the past ten years."

Then she strode out of the station, quickening her pace in an apparent attempt to catch up with Naoto and Chie.

"Wait, Yanase!" bellowed Dojima, hurrying out after her, cursing himself both for having told her too much, and for having been too much of a coward to have led the way.

**Chapter 95: Chapter Ninety Three: Disappointment**

**Chapter Ninety Three: Disappointment**

There were a ton of people at the Junes food court when Yu and Yosuke arrived around noon. Marie was already there, sitting in the far corner. She looked up when they arrived, but then just as quickly proceeded to ignore them. Yu and Yosuke had a bit of trouble finding their own table, since the place was so packed.

"Man, this…may not have been such a good idea after all," mused Yosuke. "Having Marie-chan advertise this whole thing on TV, I mean. How much do you wanna bet that half these people are here because they watched the weather this morning, and are hoping to see some kind of scene between Marie and Suzume-san?"

Yu couldn't help but agree with him. "I wouldn't have chosen the food court as the best place for this kind of conversation. I had hoped Marie would suggest something a bit more private."

They settled down into two chairs, and then caught sight of Kanji and Naoto walking out of the electronics department.

"Rise's here, too," remarked Yosuke. "I saw her sitting over there and signing autographs when we came in. Oh, and of course, Teddie's here."

Teddie, as usual, was wearing his bear costume, waving, bobbing, and generally making an adorable fool of himself in the middle of the food court.

"That's everyone, then," said Yu, "except for Naoto and Chie. Hopefully they'll be here soon. They may have gotten bogged down at the station dealing with uncle Dojima and Detective Yanase."

Yosuke nodded. "We have to be more careful around your uncle, too…I caught him staring at me in this totally weird, suspicious way when Teddie and I went out shopping the other day. It's not like I was doing anything he should have been worried about, either. Although, come to think of it, Teddie's always suspicious. I mean, the guy could steal something at any minute…he's always taking snacks without paying at Junes. Maybe I should turn him in to Dojima-san. That'd teach him a lesson…"

"It wouldn't teach him anything," retorted Yu. "Nothing ever does. Teddie is and always will be Teddie. Besides, you may not have to take him in. If uncle Dojima catches him trying to date Nanako again…oh, let's be quiet. She's here."

As Yu spoke, he was watching Suzume pick her way through the crowd and over to Marie's table. She was clearly unhappy about the crowd, and kept shooting them all wary little looks. If she noticed the various members of the investigation team, however, she certainly didn't show it.

"Do you really think she did it?" hissed Yosuke. Yu turned around and looked at him.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I'm not sure. I have nothing to go on, but…she's suspicious. She's different."

"So were we, ten years ago," Yosuke reminded him. "I mean, we were pretty much the most suspicious people running around Inaba during the first case. We were jumping in and out of TVs and keeping tons of secrets…but that didn't make us killers. You know?"

"I know." Yu sighed. "It bothers you, doesn't it? That I suspect her?"

It took Yosuke a moment, but eventually he shook his head. "Well, yeah, I guess it does, in a way. But…look, if it was her, it isn't the weirdest thing that I've seen around here. It's not like it was going anywhere between her and I anyway. Besides, if she's innocent, then the best thing to do is to get everything out in the open so that we can clear her name and move on."

Yu did his best to overhear the conversation taken place between Marie and Suzume, but the chatter of all the people in the food court was making it hard for him to listen in. Nodding once to Yosuke, he stood up, and then crossed to Marie's table.

"Hey, Marie-chan," he said. "Hi, Suzume. We've been worried about you."

Suzume shot him a startled look. "You…what are you doing here?" she asked. "Are you spying on me?"

_What's she so skittish about? _wondered Yu. _Then again, I guess that's not so different from her usual behavior. _"I came to eat lunch with a friend," he lied. "I saw both of you over here, and I wanted to come and talk to you. There are a few things that I've been wanting to ask you about, Suzume-san. Do you mind if I sit down?"

Marie nodded at a chair. "Go ahead," she said. Suzume watched, her eyes getting wider by the moment as Yu accepted the seat.

"Um," whispered Suzume.

"Now." Marie jabbed an imperious finger at Suzume. "You know what you're gonna do? You're gonna answer all of Yu's questions, and you're going to tell the truth. I'm watching you, and I'll know if you start lying, okay? So?"

Yu wondered just how Marie would have any idea if Suzume was lying or not. _She probably wouldn't be able to tell, _he decided, _but she's obviously managed to intimidate Suzume enough that Suzume assumes she means it. I guess if Suzume really is a big fan of Marie's then she would be intimidated, and she'd want to do anything Marie asked. This…might be easier than I thought._

"How long have you been in this town?" Yu asked.

Suzume frowned. "I…I don't know. A few months, I think? You should ask Yosuke-kun. We met really soon after I moved here, so he could tell you."

"I don't want to hear it from Yosuke," Yu insisted. "I want to hear it from you."

Suzume's eyes darted back and forth between Yu and Marie. "Then…um, almost three months. Yes, I think so. That's...when I started living in the basement of the TV station."

"When you left the food court the other day, and didn't come back to my house, where did you go?" Yu was watching her intently, now. Again, Suzume glanced briefly at Marie before answering.

"I waited for Yosuke and Nanako-chan to leave," she said. "Then I…I went back to the TV station."

Marie banged her hands down hard on the table. "Um, no," she insisted, "you didn't. You haven't been back to the station in days. I would have seen you. I've been looking for you. I even stayed up all night one time, just to check, but you definitely haven't come back there." Marie crossed her arms decisively over her chest. Suzume stared.

"You…you waited up for me?" she breathed. "All night? You were waiting for me to come back?"

_Oh boy, _thought Yu.

"Huh?" Marie frowned. "What? Yeah, isn't that what I just said? Wait, what are you looking so happy about? Don't you get it? This is an interrogation."

Suzume was still gazing hopefully at Marie. Yu was suddenly and alarmingly reminded of the adoring, slightly sheeplike look that so often appeared on Yosuke's face when he encountered a woman he liked. He'd looked like that whenever he talked either to or about Saki Konishi, and he'd most recently looked at Suzume that way as well.

_If it really is her, _he thought, _then she could be trying to play some trick on Yosuke, to turn him into enough of a lovesick sap to become one of her victims. Not…that I see how that would be possible, but she could be trying to do it. He falls pretty easily. _That was an unappealing thought.

Yu's voice hardened at the idea of Yosuke being a target. "Are you aware," he asked quietly, "that there have been a number of unexplained deaths in Inaba over the past several weeks?"

"Unexplained deaths…" Suzume nodded. "Yes. Yes, I think I know about that. The people who died…were lonely people, weren't they?"

Yu frowned. _Not good, _he decided. _If it was her, wouldn't she try to deny knowing about it, or something? She certainly doesn't sound upset, or remorseful in any way._

Marie made an impatient noise in the back of her throat. "Tch. This is boring. Aren't you going to get to the point? Hey, Suzume. Did you kill those lonely people we're talking about?"

Yu tried not to be too frustrated with Marie. _That's not how you conduct an interrogation, _he thought unhappily. _I was working my way up to it…now there are lots of questions I won't be able to ask her._

He expected Suzume, of course, to look shocked. He expected her to begin panicking and frantically denying anything and everything that came to mind. He expected her to be offended, or at least to pretend to be offended by the idea that she'd killed those people. Instead, she just looked confused for a moment, and then murmured, "those people? You mean…the people in Inaba? No, I didn't kill those people."

Yu was taken aback. "Wait, what are you saying? Do you mean that there are other people whom you have killed? People who aren't in Inaba?"

"No. I mean…I don't know. Did I? I don't remember." Suzume shook her golden curls, clearly vexed at something inside her own head." Well, I do remember. That's not it. It's just…did I kill those people, or was it someone else? It's hard to tell. Maybe it was me who killed them through other people…but that was a long time ago." She seemed to be talking to herself, now, instead of to Marie or to Yu. Yu and Marie just stared at each other, unsure how to proceed.

_I definitely wasn't expecting this, _thought Yu desperately. _So, she denies having anything to do with the murders in Inaba, but she's killed other people, somewhere else? She says she doesn't remember, but…is it possible that Suzume is insane? She certainly has been doing some strange things, and the way she looks at Marie sometimes does make her seem a little emotionally unstable._

Suzume seemed to have realized that she'd said something strange, and only now was she starting to look panicked. "I…that's not what I meant," she began. "I'm sorry. I wasn't…I didn't kill anyone. I didn't kill the people at the police station, or the people in this town. I would never want to kill anyone. I just wanted them to be happy, that's all. I just want everyone to be happy…just like you." She looked at Marie when she said "you," and Marie took an involuntary step back from her.

"Happy?" Marie shook her head. "What are you talking about? Who did I want to be happy? Ugh, you're not making any sense! Hey, Yu, maybe we should take her down to the police station. I'm getting kind of this. Let's let them handle it."

Yu was about to agree that they do just that when Naoto strode up to the table, apparently having arrived without his notice. "That won't be necessary," she informed them. "If you'll excuse me, I'd like to take over from here.

"Fine by me," muttered Marie, as Naoto pulled a chair up to the table. Suzume, looking somehow hunted and puzzled at the same time, stared at her hands.

"Now, please correct me if I' wrong," murmured Naoto, "but you have admitted to having committed not one, but several murders in the past. Is that correct?"

"No…" Suzume shook her head. "No, it's not. I already said that I'm not sure if it was me or not. I'm..I'm pretty sure that it wasn't, actually. It must have been something that someone else did for me."

Naoto pursed her lips. "Very well. We shall pass over that question for the present and discuss the circumstances surrounding the recent deaths in Inaba. Do you deny having any involvement in those incidents?"

Yu noticed that Naoto was writing busily in a little notebook as she spoke. Suzume apparently noticed it as well, and she squirmed in her chair, continually looking over at Marie, who now seemed to be actively avoiding her gaze.

"I just wanted them to be happy," she whispered. "That's all I wanted. I wanted to give them…"

Kanji suddenly loomed into view behind Suzume's chair, and Yu realized that the rest of his friends had been quietly creeping up throughout the interview. They were now all standing around the table, looking alarmed and slightly menacing. Suzume swallowed, and did her best to regain her composure. She took her eyes off of Marie, and faced Yu head-on for the first time.

"You don't understand," she told him. "You…someone like you would never be able to understand."

"I'd like to try to understand," replied Yu. "Tell me. It might go better than you'd think. You'd be amazed by how many strange things I've heard and seen."

For just a moment, Suzume smiled, and it was a sad, resigned kind of smile. "No," she whispered."No, I'm never amazed by anything that people do. I'm only ever disappointed."

"What the-?" began Kanji.

"Hey, Suzume-san…" added Chie. "Look, did you really do it?"

Suzume, however, ignored them both. She frowned once at Marie, and murmured, "I'm sorry. I can't answer any more questions. Something bad might happen. I wanted to do what you asked me, but…I can't anymore. I'm so sorry."

Then, very quietly, Suzume stepped around her chair, passed right by the slightly dumbfounded Kanji, and strode through the doors to the electronics department. The investigation team looked on, apparently stunned temporarily into silence, as she disappeared from view.

"Come on, guys," said Yosuke finally. "We have to go after her."

"Y-yeah," agreed Chie. "He's right. Um…Let's go!"

**Chapter 96: Chapter Ninety Four: Not a Party, Part 1**

**Author's Note: **Holy crap, this scene…this scene was not fun to write. Please bear with me while I make any necessary adjustments. This ending is complicated and difficult. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

While I go and sort this out, PLEASE check out **Just what WAS Charles doing behind Junes?** a wonderfully clever piece by **JustCharles**. It's a one-shot exploration of that scene several chapters ago in**Dreamgirl**, during which Charles Waldo (the hero of **Just Charles' "I Don't Belong Here"**) delivers evidence to Detective Cho Yanase. It's essentially a crossover fic between his story and mine, and I'm flattered and delighted that he took the time to write it. Please, if you've enjoyed either this story or his story, do go check it out and let him know what you think!

Oh, and a recent guest named **Lilybud** asked me a question, so I'll answer it here:

**Lilybud, **the way I see it, Teddie isn't human (he's a shadow), and so, at least the way I write him he doesn't actually age. He definitely grows in terms of character and experience, but since he chose his human form when he was a teenager, he's still pretty much a teenager. I suppose if he wanted to, he could probably figure out how to age himself up, appearance-wise.

Does that help?

And now…I give you this.

**Chapter Ninety Four: This Doesn't Look Much Like a Party – Part One**

Dojima and Yanase discreetly followed Naoto and Chie until all four of them reached the gates of the Junes food court. Then Dojima and Yanase hung back, letting Chie and Naoto enter the food court and join their friends, several of whom Dojima could already see clustered around one of the nearby tables. The weathergirl Mariko Kusumi was there, talking to the homeless woman that Yu and Chie had dragged in only a week or so ago. A quick glance around the food court informed Dojima that the rest of his nephew's friends were, in fact, ranged around at various tables, each of them doing their best not to look suspicious while all-too-obviously keeping an eye on Yu and Kusumi.

"This doesn't look much like a surprise party," he muttered. "Looks more like an ambush, if you ask me."

"I agree." Yanase nodded. "There's nothing friendly going on here." She bit her lip, clearly frustrated. "I can't make out what any of them are saying. If only we could get a little closer…"

Dojima put a cautioning hand on her sleeve. "Nothing we can do about it at this point. Maybe if we'd gotten here sooner we could have snuck in and mingled with the crowd, but if we try to cut in now, someone's bound to notice. I'm guessing Shirogane at least will be on her guard. She knows we could have followed her. If she sees us, then we're shit out of luck."

"Yes…I know." Yanase let out a short breath. "That blond girl doesn't look very happy, does she? Who is she? Why are they all surrounding her like that?"

Dojima followed Yanase's gaze. "That's Suzume Moto," he informed her.

"Ah…the one the 'surprise party' was supposed to be for," murmured Yanase. "Oh, look, now more of them are starting to drift over. They really have her surrounded. What's going on, here? This…honestly doesn't look like it has anything to do with the case. If anything, it looks like that poor girl is being bullied mercilessly by all of these people."

Dojima cleared his throat, prepared to inform Yanase in no uncertain terms that his nephew wasn't in any way a bully or a cruel man. "If he's bothering to question her," he began, "then there's probably-!"

Abruptly, the situation at the table changed, and Dojima forgot what he was talking about. The blond girl stood up, said something quietly to the group, and then turned on her heel and walked off into the electronics department. The rest of the table sat in stunned silence for a few moments, until Yosuke said something. Then he and Chie, followed almost immediately by the rest of the party, hurried off into the electronics department as well.

"…what on earth was that?" asked Yanase.

Dojima shook his head. "I have no idea. Looks like we may have been wrong, though, about Narukami and Shirogane's involvement. They're up to something, sure, but it doesn't look like it's got anything to do with Adachi or with the murder case we're working on."

Yanase didn't appear to be listening to him. She was already starting through the gates and heading for the electronics department. Dojima stumbled over himself to catch up.

They were through the door of the electronics department just in time to see Kanji, Chie, and Naoto all standing in front of a large display model TV. The rest of the group was nowhere to be found.

"Where are the others?" began Yanase. "What about that girl Suzume and Miss Kusumi? Where did they go?"

Just as she finished speaking, Kanji kicked off the ground and did a sort of awkward head-first dive into the TV set. Dojima stepped forward, spurred on by some sort of unconscious instinct to prevent a collision, but Kanji sailed straight through the TV screen and disappeared from sight.

_What the…?_ Dojima froze, dumbfounded. _Pushing people into TVs…a world inside the TV. So, then it wasn't all a lie, or a story they made up. It was-!_

"But…how is that possible?" Yanase stared. "I don't understand. Isn't that a TV? Maybe it isn't. Maybe it's really a secret door, or some kind of trapped device."

"Yanase," began Dojima warningly, but she was already moving forward, even as Chie, with slightly more grace and a bit less haste, pushed herself through the TV as well. Only Naoto remained, and she, apparently having heard Yanase's approach, turned for a moment and stared in horror at the oncoming detective.

"Stop!" shouted Yanase desperately. "Stop! Shirogane, don't move!"

Ever so briefly, Naoto's eyes met Dojima as he ran to Yanase's side. Then she frowned, shook her head, and mumbled, "I'm so sorry."

"Yanase," bellowed Dojima. "Don't-!"

Of course, it was too late. Naoto jumped for the TV. Yanase grabbed on to the back of Naoto's jacket, and Dojima took a firm grip on Yanase's arm. All three of them spent one brief, nerve-wracking moment in what felt like mid-air, and then Dojima knew that he was falling.

Whatever he was falling through, it felt fuzzy and foreign, almost like the feeling he got when he'd had just enough sake to enjoy himself, but not enough to be falling-down drunk. It seemed as though his head was spinning, and the world around him looked like a murky sort of colorful static, until he landed with a painful thud on uneven ground.

"H-holy crap!" said Chie's voice from somewhere very close by. Swallowing hard against the pain that had shot through his back when he'd landed, Dojima struggled to his feet, and opened his eyes.

He was lying in a room full of nonsensical colors and patterns, like something out of one of those modern, slightly inappropriate children's TV programs. Yu Narukami and all of his friends were standing in a sort of semicircle around him, staring down at him with mouths slightly open in shock.

Oh, man…" breathed Chie. "How the hell did this happen?"

Beside Dojima on the ground, Yanase rolled over on to her side. "Sir," she mumbled. "Are…are you okay?"

"I'm, uh, fine," Dojima assured her, not at all sure that he meant it. He got to his feet, then reached down and helped Yanase struggle up as well. "Where the hell are we? This place is insane…gives me the creeps."

"Inside the TV," whispered Yanase. "I…may owe you an apology, Dojima-san. I never expected that we'd find anything like this."

Dojima looked up and found himself staring into his nephew's eyes. Yu looked worried and extremely unhappy.

"Uncle Dojima," he said. "You need to leave."

Dojima squared his shoulders and did his best to look authoritative and in charge, despite the circumstances. "You don't get to order me around. Explain yourself. What is this place, and what exactly is going on, here? Where's the rest of your group?"

"Huh? Uh, we're all here," said Chie. "Oh, except…"

"No one knows what's happened to Marie and Suzume," interrupted Yu. "We haven't seen them. We're going to keep looking."

"Please," added Naoto. "Understand that we mean no disrespect when we insist that you must leave immediately. This place is not safe for the two of you. There will be ample time to explain the situation later, and I promise you a full explanation of what it is that you've witnessed here today if only you will take our advice and leave, now, before things escalate beyond our control."

Dojima looked around into all of nervous, uncomfortable faces of his nephew's friends. Several of them kept looking over their shoulders, as though expecting to see something sneak up from behind them at any moment.

"Monsters," breathed Dojima.

"Yes," agreed Naoto. "There are creatures here that could answer to that name."

"Sir," began Yanase, quietly interposing her body between him and the vast expanse of colorful senselessness that was the surrounding landscape. "It may be best if we take that advice, for now at least. All of you, of course," she said, gesturing at the assembled team members, "will be coming with us. We will all go down to the station together where we can hear, without concern or danger, the whole story."

"Yanase-san." Yu clasped both hands in front of him in an atypical gesture of supplication. "We can't do that right now. We need to find Suzume and Marie. If Suzume really did run in here, and if she has Marie with her, then they both might be in very real danger. None of us are leaving until we've found them."

For a moment, Yu and Yanase stared into each other's eyes, both unflinching.

"Then we will be joining your search," murmured Yanase finally. "We are both armed."

Dojima was impressed by the hardness in both her voice and manner, but he could see that the hands Yanase was clasping behind her back were shaking as their knuckles turned white.

_She's trying to stand between me and whatever's out there, _he realized. _Honestly, I don't even know if the girl can shoot. I never asked. I've never even seen her at target practice. She can't stay here, no matter how driven she is or how much she feels she has to prove._

From somewhere to Dojima's left, he heard the sound of a door creaking open. "D-dad?" called out a startled voice that Dojima recognized all too well.

"Nanako?" He spun around to find his daughter careening towards him, her eyes wide with alarm. "Nanako! What are you doing here?"

"I'm…um, I'm with Big Bro," mumbled Nanako, giving Yu a furtive, apologetic look. "No, wait, no, that's not what I meant. I came here on my own; it's not Big Bro's fault. I came here to see…"

Involuntarily, Nanako shot a glance over her shoulder, which she instantly and obviously regretted. Dojima followed her gaze, and felt his whole body grow taut and cold as he stared across the colorful plain into a pair of sunken, hunted eyes that he'd only seen in nightmares and old photographs for the past ten years.

Tohru Adachi, sickeningly thin and looking far older than he had when Dojima had worked with him was standing just a few feet away. He'd been watching Nanako's retreating back, but as soon as Dojima looked up into his eyes, Adachi's gaze locked on to his, and they stared at each other for what seemed to Dojima like an intolerably long, drawn-out moment in time. Adachi looked uncertainly defiant, biting down hard on his lip. He looked like he wanted to say something. Dojima, too, felt that there was something he knew he ought to say, but whatever it was completely escaped him.

Yanase sucked in a sharp breath. "Adachi," she whispered, and there was a low sort of guttural quality to her voice that Dojima hadn't noticed before. When he risked a look at her out of the corner of his eye, he saw hatred in her eyes; something which he knew didn't belong in the eyes of the carefree, optimistic young woman that he'd been introduced to at the gym only a few short weeks before.

"Dad,' insisted Nanako quickly, "Um, I can explain. Look, he's not…!"

"Tohru Adachi," announced Yanase, pushing past both Dojima and Nanako in her haste to get to her quarry. "I arrest you for the murder of Juro Togoshi. Please be aware that anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. If you should require the services of a lawyer…"

As Yanase droned on, Dojima watched her reach into her pockets with both hands. With her right hand, she pulled out her pistol, while with the other she grabbed her badge.

_She's actually going to waste time showing him her badge, _thought Dojima in a sort of distracted horror. _Here, in this place, faced with an escaped murderer and the prospect of being eaten alive by magical television monsters, she's going to show him her goddamn badge…_

Adachi gave the approaching detective an appraising look. Then he sneered, shook his head, and turned on his heel.

"Yeah, I don't think so," he muttered.

"Dad," pleaded Nanako, grabbing on to both of her father's hands and gazing beseechingly into his eyes. "You have to listen to me. Adachi-san didn't kill Togoshi-san. He didn't kill Taiga-san. It wasn't him! You can't arrest him for this and bring him back to prison! They'll kill him in prison!"

Dojima tried to shake her off. "Be quiet, Nanako." His head was spinning, and he was trying to get his mind around everything that was happening at once while somehow keeping both eyes fixed firmly on Yanase and Adachi at the same time.

_What I need to do now, _said the one still rational, functioning part of his detective brain, _is to get everyone out of this place. Once we're all out of here, then we can worry about arrests and arguments. First, we need to-!_

Then, just as Dojima was beginning to force himself to gain a better hold on the situation, yet another voice cut through his thoughts. It was a voice that he hadn't heard in longer than he could remember, and it was a voice that he'd been sure he'd never hear again. It made his mind go blank and his soul begin to churn with long dormant feelings of longing and loneliness, and as he turned slowly in the direction of the voice, Dojima wasn't honestly certain if he was elated or terrified of what he'd find.

"Ryo, darling," murmured Chisato Dojima, standing before him in all of the same radiant, slightly disheveled, dark-eyed splendor that he remembered so well. "It's all right. You don't have to try so hard. No one expects you to have everything under control. It would be unreasonable…and you're only a man, after all. You've done everything you can. It's time to finally let yourself go…you deserve it, if any of us do. Don't you think so?"

She gave him a knowing smile and a little wink, as though they were sharing some special quiet joke that existed only between two well-acquainted, comfortable lovers.

"Stop telling yourself that you have to be on your best behavior all the time," she told him. "It isn't always your job to solve the mystery. It isn't always your responsibility. This time, it's someone else's problem. Someone else will have to step in to save the day…"

"Ch-chisato," breathed Dojima, uncertain of what else there was to say. All thoughts of Adachi and Yanase completely forgotten, he took a step forward, desperate to put his arms around her and to hold her against his skin where he could feel whether or not her heart were really still beating.

"No," whispered someone from what seemed like very far away. _Rise Kujikawa_, thought Dojima absently, identifying the voice even as he dismissed it. "Dojima-san, no…hang in there! She's not real, don't give in! Don't let her fool you!"

As if in a dream, Dojima reached out and touched Chisato's hand. Chisato took the offered hand and drew him to her, beaming affection and understanding into his eyes as she received him.

"Dojima-san." This time the voice was Yosuke's, and it was much closer. Yosuke reached out and grabbed at Dojima's sleeve, but Dojima shook him away. "Dojima-san, it's an illusion. This place is full of crazy dreams and things that don't' make sense. You have to resist. You're a gonner if you don't!"

_I don't care, _thought Dojima. _I don't care if it's a dream. It doesn't matter if she's real or not, so long as she's here with me. It's been so long…and I've missed her so much. I've missed you, Chisato, every single day…_

Vaguely, Dojima was aware that there was a great deal of commotion going on around him. Someone was shouting, and various people were running back and forth. One set of footsteps in particular were approaching from somewhere just behind Dojima's back, and as he turned to fend off that particular disturbance, he came face to face with Tohru Adachi who was glaring, gun in hand, past his head at the image of Chisato. Immediately, Dojima threw his whole body in front of Chisato's, doing his level best to protect her. He heard himself yell or growl out some kind of warning command, but Adachi, at least, was a very good shot, and his bullet sailed right past Dojima's head to lodge itself in Chisato's shoulder.

"How DARE you?" Dojima bellowed in white hot rage, prepared to lunge for Adachi's throat, or for his weapon, or for both.

It was only when he glanced over his shoulder to make sure that Chisato was still breathing that he noticed how the bullet had gone right through, leaving no trace behind. Chisato was now quietly examining the woundless place on her shoulder where the bullet had struck, and the hand that she was using to probe that area of skin had mysteriously and abruptly begun to grow a vicious set of hooked, glinting claws.

**Author's Note: **Obviously there is so much more to this scene. We will see it from the perspectives from multiple characters, and there's a good deal more to come, but I am genuinely concerned that I have written myself ragged for tonight, so I will complete the scene, the arc, and probably the entire fic tomorrow. Stay tuned!

**Chapter 97: Chapter Ninety Five: Not a Party, Part 2**

**Author's Note: **All right, I'm ready. Let's do this.

**Chapter Ninety Five: This Doesn't Look Much Like a Party – Part Two**

Adachi turned his back on the approaching detective, even as she pulled out her gun and begin reading him his rights.

_Who the hell is this chick?_ he wondered, quickening his pace and making straight for the Velvet Room door. _Oh, so this is that detective that Nanako was talking about, right? The one who I was supposed to be so careful about? The hell did she manage to get in here? Oh well…_

He had already noticed, of course, that the gun was shaking in her hand, and that she kept switching her fingers and slightly changing her grip every few seconds.

_She's a rookie, _he decided. _A rookie with a lot to prove and not much going for her. Look, she can't even hold the damn gun right. What…is that a badge? Holy crap…she's actually showing me her badge. Jeez, you'd think they'd send out the big guns for someone like me, not some dippy green-ass new chick. Forget it, I'm out of here. Let's see how much power she's really got. Can she get into the Velvet Room? Somehow, I doubt it._

"Stop right there!" shouted the woman detective, dropping her badge back into her pocket. "I've told you, you're under arrest. If you continue to move or resist being taken in, I will have no choice but to exercise force."

Adachi rolled his eyes. _Bring it on, _he thought. _Use force, huh? You have no idea what kind of damage I could do to you. Run away, little girl, while you've still got all your limbs._

Adachi finally got to the door, and as he reached out to pull it open, he heard a click from the detective's gun behind him. He flinched involuntarily, and darted around as quickly as he could to the other side of the door, just in time to see the man who was walking up, apparently unnoticed, behind the woman detective's back.

He was a large man, equipped with both impressively muscular arms and a noticeable beer gut. There was a tolerant sort of smile on his face, and he was wearing what looked like the exact same dark blue jacket that the woman detective had around her shoulders. Both jackets, noticed Adachi, had a little patched-up tear right underneath the elbow. The man's eyes, of course, were what gave him away. He had large, glowing, menacing yellow eyes.

_Aw, hell, _thought Adachi. _Right, of course, she has to have a shadow._

"Careful now, Cho," announced the man. "Stay on target."

The detective, apparently named Cho, froze in her tracks. Then she turned slowly around to face the oncoming man. Adachi couldn't see her face, since she now had her back to him, but he could hear the incredulous quaver in her voice.

"Juro?" she asked, sounding suddenly and almost pathetically like a startled child. "Juro, you're…but that can't be."

"Hey, pay attention," ordered the shadow of Juro, pointing imperiously at Adachi. "We've got work to do, here. What are you waiting for? You're so close to catching the guy!"

"R-right," stammered Cho, staring back and forth between the shadow and Adachi, obviously torn between interests. "But, Juro, I-!"

"Aw, don't worry about it. You know what, its fine. Tell you what; you give me that gun, Cho. I've got this one. Shouldn't have asked you to take point in the first place, right? After all, I'm the senpai, here. I'm supposed to be in charge of handling tough cases like this. You're a good kid, but you're just not cut out for this kind of thing. Anyway, it's okay, don't sweat it. I'm here, now. I've got you. Just go ahead and give me the gun, and we'll get this guy together."

"Okay. If…if you say so." Cho, enraptured by the shadow, took a step away from Adachi, and stretched one arm out towards Juro, prepared to offer him the gun. Juro reached out his hand to accept it, and Adachi could see long, glimmering, wicked-looking claws begin to extend out of the shadow's fingers.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" shouted Adachi, lunging forward and smacking the gun out of Cho's hand. It clattered to the ground at her feet, and he bent down and retrieved it before either Cho or Juro had a chance. "Are you stupid or something? You're seriously gonna just hand a shadow a deadly weapon? Or, wait, are you actually trying to get all of us killed?"

Cho's eyes narrowed as she stared at the gun in Adachi's hand. "Adachi-san," she muttered. "Put the gun down and step away." That same barely controlled anger that he'd seen at first had started to flow back into her eyes, and, belatedly, Adachi realized that he was now pointing the gun at the shadow of Juro.

"Aw, for the love of…" He muttered a curse under his breath, shot a look over his shoulder and wondered if he'd be able to scramble for the Velvet Room door and shut it behind him before either Cho or her shadow friend had a chance to come after him.

It was then that he heard Nanako's terrified scream. "Daddy!"

Adachi spun in the direction of the sound, and found himself watching Nanako clinging desperately on to her father's arm, tugging and pulling for dear life. Dojima, his eyes misty and unfocused, reached out towards a beautiful woman that Adachi recognized from pictures that he'd seen standing in decorated picture frames on Dojima's desk years ago. Dojima seemed totally unaware that Nanako was even at his side, and as he ignored her, she became more and more frantic. "Daddy, please! Listen to me! It's…it's not mom! Mom's gone. Dad. Please, I don't want to lose you, too!"

Dojima was already entangled in the arms of the shadow woman. The shadow of Juro and the useless woman detective were closing in on Adachi. Adachi knew that he was running out of options.

"Nngh…I hate my life," hissed Adachi, shaking his head, knowing he was a fool, and abandoning the Velvet Room door. He ran across to where Nanako was still struggling to rescue her father, and planted himself just behind her.

"Move," he said.

Nanako stared up into his face. "Adachi-san…"

"I said get the hell out of the way!" shouted Adachi, leveling Cho's gun at shadow Chisato's head. Nanako ducked and rolled, and Adachi fired.

He knew that the shot wouldn't connect. He knew that he wouldn't do any damage. He did, however, manage to create the chaotic distraction that he needed. Dojima turned away from the shadow to confront him, his eyes blazing rage and betrayal as he made to lunge for Adachi's throat. Then, just for a second, he turned to check on Chisato, and Adachi saw the confusion in his eyes as he, like Adachi, noticed that Chisato had begun to sprout claws.

"Wh…what?" managed Dojima dazedly.

A bolt of lightning crackled out of somewhere, striking shadow Chisato straight in the ribs. She snarled and spun around to face Kanji Tatsumi and his persona. As she moved, she grew in size, and her whole body began to change and morph.

"Ziodyne!" shouted Kanji, pointing at shadow Chisato. "Uh, no, fuck it, uh…The Man's Way! Do that!"

The persona swung, and Adachi backed up. On his way out of the line of fire, he grabbed on to Nanako and dragged her with him.

"Let me go," she insisted, struggling against his grip. "I have to help Dad! He needs me!"

"Yeah? Then summon your damn persona," muttered Adachi. "Don't just stand there staring and screaming like a dumb kid."

Nanako blinked at him. Then she nodded took a deep breath, and whispered, "Come on, Tatsu-ta-hime!"

**Meanwhile, nearby…**

Yu was standing in the center of the room, wildly trying to rally his troops into some sort of effective battle formation. To his left, Shadow Togoshi was advancing slowly on Detective Yanase, while to his right, Dojima finally seemed to have snapped out of his stupor, and was staring at Shadow Chisato's gleaming, outstretched claws. Her neck was loner, now, too, and scales were sprouting out of her back, rapidly beginning to cover her entire body.

"What now, partner?" demanded Yosuke, appearing at Yu's side. "Where do you want me?"

_Everywhere at once, _thought Yu miserably_._ Out loud he said, "Yosuke, take Yukiko and Rise, and go help Kanji and Adachi deal with Dojima's shadow. See if you can get around behind her and drive her into the center of the room. I'm taking Chie, Naoto, and Teddie, and we're going to tackle Shadow Togoshi. We'll meet in you in the middle, if all goes well."

"Right. Got it." Yosuke nodded once, and then turned to leave.

"Yosuke," called Yu. "Dojima and Nanako are over there. My family…"

"Don't sweat it, man." Yosuke took a moment to give Yu a reassuring clap on the shoulder. "Like I'd let anything bad happen to Dojima-san and Nanako-chan. I got this. Go, do your thing." With one last reassuring smile over his shoulder, Yosuke raced off to join the fray around Dojima.

_Thank you, Yosuke, _thought Yu. _Heaven knows what I'd do if you weren't here. _"Naoto!" he called. "Chie! Teddie! Come on, you're with me!"

"Right!" agreed Chie, taking off after Yu. Naoto and Teddie soon joined them, and they rushed over to where Shadow Juro had finally cornered Yanase against a wall. He was still speaking in that same gentle, jovial tone of voice, but a sneer had slowly started to take over his once friendly face. As Yu watched, he, too, began to grow scales, teeth, and a long, impressive tail.

"Just give up, Cho," Togoshi was saying, shaking his head. "You're no match for this. You're just a kid. I taught you everything you know, and I always had your back. I was with you every step of the way. Don't you think I know, better than anyone, what you're capable of? Come on, listen to your partner Nah, I'm not just your partner. I'm your teacher. I'm here to give you a way out. Face it, you just can't get this under control without me. You're not destined for authority. You're too mild. Just back off and let someone else handle this. Let me handle it. You can trust me, Cho. You don't have to do anything but trust me."

"Start herding him into the center of the room!" ordered Yu. "If we can get them both together, it'll be easier to face them. There are only two of them, and ten of us! We'll surround them and cut them off from Yanase and Uncle!"

"Yes." Naoto nodded her understanding, then began slowly edging around to the other side of Shadow Togoshi, firing blasts of almighty magic at him as she attempted to separate him from Yanase. Teddie and Chie began inching in the other direction, and Yu himself risked a look over at Yosuke. There was a great deal of shouting and commotion in that direction, but Yu could see from where he was standing that Yosuke was making large, expansive gestures with his hands, no doubt organizing the same type of attack that Yu was attempting on his end.

The battle waged on. Chie, lashing out with every physical attack she could muster as well as with every muscle in her own powerful legs, finally succeeded in driving Shadow Togoshi into the center of the room. He fired at her with his own weapon, but she ducked and Naoto used the window she provided to nail the shadow square in the face with a powerful fire attack. Yu could feel the presence of Shadow Chisato approaching from behind him as Yosuke and his party forced her farther towards her counterpart.

"All right, everyone," called Yu. "Good work! Keep attacking, but try to make a circle around the two shadows. Ring them in. Once we have them in the center, we'll all attack at once. We should be able to pick them off using all our strength together."

"Why must you fight me?" Shadow Chisato was saying to a now prone and cowering Dojima . "You never were much of a hero, Ryo. It was so sweet watching you try, but it never amounted to anything. You were always so insistent that you could be the man of the house, the man who would protect your family no matter what. You were the big, strong, tough policeman…at least that's how you wanted us to see you. But Ryo, I know you. Your daughter knows you. You're neither strong, nor tough, even if you are getting a bit large in your age." She winked at him again, apparently in what was supposed to be a coy sort of flirty way, although the way her face was elongating and stretching made it harder and harder for her to attempt human gestures at all. "Why, Ryo, how can you protect your family? How can you be a big, strong powerful man when you have no real control? You have no control over your world. You have no control over your life. Ryo, you don't even have any real control over yourself. Do you think I don't know about that woman you brought home? What was her name…Margaret, I think? You couldn't even defeat your own primal urges. You couldn't keep yourself away from her. If you can't master your own feelings, how do you expect to master the rest of this cruel, strange world? Just relax. It's all right. No one expects you to be anything more than what you are…a failed attempt at a man."

Now, Shadow Chisato's voice was growing colder, and to Yu's ears it sounded significantly more malicious. Agonized by her words, Dojima held both of his hands over his head and sunk closer and closer to the ground, as though trying to shield himself from the consternation in both her voice and in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry…I was never enough. I couldn't save you…I couldn't be the husband you wanted. Even now, I can't…"

"That's not true." Suddenly, a voice cut through the chaos. It wasn't a loud voice, or a confident voice, or a ringing voice, but somehow Yu managed to hear it despite the raging scenes happening on either side of him. It looked as though Dojima had heard it as well, because he suddenly dropped his arms and looked up into the eyes of Cho Yanase, who was struggling desperately to her feet and forcing herself through the throng surrounding her and Shadow Togoshi.

"That's not true," she said again, shaking her head. "Your wife…she would never think that about you. I know that. I know it because…because Juro liked you. Juro trusted you. He said that you were a good man, and you are a good man. You're reliable, and you care about people. I've heard you talk about your wife. You loved her more than anything in this world. You loved her like I loved…" She glanced back over her shoulder at Shadow Togoshi, who had stopped fighting entirely and was now watching her intently. "But she's right about one thing. You can't always be the hero. You can't always save everyone, no matter how much you wish you could. I…I know that. I don't want to know it, but I do. If there was any way to go back…but there isn't. There can't be. You're human. You can't change the past. You can't see the future. You're just a man, sir, but you're a good man. That's…that's all you have to be."

The fighting, now, had entirely ceased.

"Cho-chan," sighed Shadow Togoshi. "Look, you shouldn't be getting involved in other people's business. Leave that to me. I'm in charge, here. I'll say how we're gonna play this game. You just stand back, and let me handle this, all right? You have no idea what you're talking about. You're gonna make a mess of this, and you know who's gonna have to clean it up? Probably me. That's how it always works out, doesn't it?"

Yanase's attention snapped back to Shadow Togoshi, and Yu could see the uncertainty returning to her eyes as she listened.

"Yanase-san," whispered Yukiko sadly. "Is that really the kind of relationship that you had with Togoshi-san? Did he really speak to you like that? How horrible for you. I had no idea..."

Suddenly, Dojima, too, was on his feet. His face was pale and his lips were still quavering, but he managed to fix his eyes, hard and firm, on Shadow Togoshi.

"Nah," he muttered. "He wasn't anything like that. Damnit, Cho, you should have heard the way he talked about you. He was proud as hell of you. He thought you were going places. He would have talked my ear off all day about the shit you got up to and how well you were turning out as a detective, if I'd let him. Don't…don't let this guy fool you. I don't know who he is, but he isn't Juro Togoshi. Juro Togoshi wanted you to succeed. This asshole's some kind of imposter."

_It's all in her head, _realized Yu. _She feels inferior to Togoshi. She imagines herself as having been a burden to him, and unable to function without him. She's lost and confused without her partner to give her orders. It's…well, it's understandable. Yukiko's right, of course. It's sad, too. The worst part is, she might not be entirely wrong about her abilities, even if Togoshi never felt that way._

"And you," mumbled Dojima miserably, gazing up into Shadow Chisato's eyes, "are not my wife. I…I don't know what the hell is going on here, but…"

Apparently unable to take the sight of Chisato anymore, Dojima turned his back to her. Nanako was instantly at his side, wrapping her arms around him and sniffling into his sleeve.

Shadow Togoshi and Shadow Chisato stood silently for a moment, staring first at their intended victims, and then at each other. Then, ever so slowly, they shrank and transmuted back into bewildered looking images of Dojima and Yanase, before erupting into a quiet but brilliant display of glowing light.

**Author's Endnote: **And thus, the hardest scene in the entire story is completed!

I AM SO GLAD.

**Chapter 98: Chapter Ninety Six: Trash**

**Author'S Note: **Okay, here we go. The final four chapters.

Now, the next bit is going to take a little bit of explaining. Suzume and Marie will do the explaining, but it may take two chapters before the whole story comes out, so please bear with me.

**Chapter Ninety Six: Trash**

Dojima and Yanase stood in what was quickly becoming a ring of glowing light, staring into the center of the shimmering mass while the investigation team stood protectively around them, watching.

"Sir," gasped Yanase, taking a few halting steps over to Dojima's side. "Are you...are you all right? You're not hurt, are you?"

"Nah," muttered Dojima. "I'm fine. What about you? You look awful." He reached out one arm to support her as she stumbled into him, obviously exhausted. "Hey, sit down. Take a deep breath."

Dutifully, Yanase sat down on the ground, and Dojima soon joined her.

"I meant what I said," she whispered, after a moment's silence. "You're a good man, Dojima-san. You have nothing to be ashamed of."

"Heh." Dojima shook his head. "You think so? Well, maybe you're right. Feels like I've been carrying around this idea for so long that there's something I should be doing, or some way I should be living to try to make up for what I let happened…but that's not how it works. Nothing I can do about the past. Can't wish it back, no matter how bad I want it. It's…it's out of my control." He exhauled slowly, and ran a hand nervously through his thinning hair. "Don't start thinking, though, that this means I'm just giving up. There's still the future to think of. We've still got plenty of work to do to change that."

"Yes," agreed Yanase, nodding.

But you," continued Dojima, "should be proud of yourself. Without you, god knows how I'd ever have gotten out of there. You, uh…you said what I needed to hear. You need to remember that the next time you start feeling like you're no good on your own. Without you, I would have toast. Felt like I was losing my mind, just now, until you stepped in."

Yanase nodded. "I promised," she told him. "I said that I wouldn't let anything happen to you. I promised myself, sir…and I promised you."

"Well, you kept your promise." Dojima sighed, looking exhausted and drained. "Juro would've been proud."

Yanase sat a little bit straighter, her cheeks flushing with pleasure. "Thank you, sir," she whispered.

"Still," sighed Dojima, I have to wish none of you had seen that. It's…uh, it wasn't my finest moment." He took a look around at the assembled members of the investigation team, and gave them one of his characteristic, raised-eyebrow glares. "If any of you say a thing about this to anyone…you'll regret it."

"Huh? Us? Why would we say anything?" Yosuke blinked. "No way, uh…right, guys?"

There was a general murmur of frantic agreement from the rest of the team. Yu grinned to himself, but tried not to let Dojima see it.

"And you." This time, Dojima turned on Yanase. "When the hell are you gonna quit calling me 'sir' all the time? Togoshi never did. Think it's time for you to start using my real name."

"Yes, sir," murmured Yanase obediently. Dojima started to glare again, and then changed his mind and laughed instead.

As Yu and the others stood and listened, a familiar voice drifted in from somewhere far away.

_Ryotaro has faced and forgiven the past, _it intoned. _He has obtained the façade used to face the unforeseeable future; the persona Raiden._

"Whoa," breathed Chie. "So…then, Dojima-san has one, too? I…I mean, of course he does! Um, it's not like he's not good enough, or anything. It's just that I never really thought…!"

_Cho has faced and forgiven the past, _came a second voice, almost identical to the first, beginning just as the first voice was ending its monologue. _She has obtained the façade used to face the unforeseeable future; the persona Suijin._

The blinding light began to fade, slowly revealing the majestic forms of two dragons. One was huge, purple, and red, with a jagged pattern of spines along its lengthy, muscular back. The other was smaller, lither, colored a deep shade of blue, with what looked like pools of water resting serenely in its two huge eyes.

"What?" whispered Yanase, staring in awe at the dragons as they glided through the air towards her and Dojima. "What's this?"

The red and purple dragon curled itself up into a ball next to Dojima's head. "Beautiful," he muttered under his breath. Then the dragon vanished and he shuddered for a moment as it found a home within his soul.

The blue dragon swirled around Yanase for a moment, as though sizing her up. As she gazed at it, her eyes, too, became calm, and her whole body relaxed. The dragon nodded once, then wavered briefly and disappeared. Yanase took a deep breath, and got slowly to her feet.

"Please," she said, addressing the gawking crowd. " Explain yourselves. What is going on here? What is this that we're experiencing?" She sounded more puzzled now than distressed. She seemed calmer, and the gun lay forgotten at her side. Out of the corner of his eye, Yu could see Adachi slinking quietly away towards the Velvet Room.

Unsurprisingly, everyone glanced instantly at Yu. He steeled himself for a long, complex and difficult conversation. "Um, well," he began.

"Oh," said a quiet, nearby woman's voice just as Yu prepared to speak. "I don't know. That didn't seem fair. You all helped. You never gave them a chance to choose for themselves."

"Yu, look!" gasped Yukiko, grabbing hard onto his forearm. "She's here!"

Yu followed Yukiko's pointing finger, and saw Suzume Moto standing only a few feet away, her hands clasped in front of her and her eyes wide as she gazed in disappointment at Dojima and Yanase. Next to her, Marie leaned against a wall, glowering at Suzume, but apparently unhurt.

"That's not how it works," repeated Suzume, taking a few steps towards the party. "Everyone decides for his or herself. You're not supposed to interfere."

Yosuke sucked in a breath. "Suzume…?" he asked hesitantly.

"Stay back!" warned Marie. "Yu, I remember now. I know where I've seen this girl before. She's not-!"

"You remembered?" Suzume looked pleased, and beamed on Marie. "I'm so happy. I was afraid that you'd never recognize me. I'd waited for so long…it hurt."

"Marie?" demanded Yu. "Are you okay?"

Marie shrugged impatiently. "Whatever, I'm fine. It's no big deal, I'll figure it out. You get out of here! I'm not messing around, okay? This isn't a joke. This girl is dangerous."

Cautiously, Yu took a step towards Marie, and Suzume instantly interposed herself between the two of them. An ugly, unfocused sort of look appeared in Suzume's eyes, and Yu stopped in his tracks.

"You're not going to take her away from me, are you?" asked Suzume. "But, she doesn't want to leave yet. Now that I've finally found her, and made her remember…you can't take her away. There's so much for us to talk about. There are so many things I want to say and do. I'm not ready for her to leave, yet. I…I never want to be left alone again."

"Back up," shouted Marie. "Get away from her. I'll be fine. I'm no pushover."

Yu, however, was unwilling to leave Marie behind. He heard the rest of the investigation team beginning to creep up behind him, and held up a warning hand to hold them back. _We need to go carefully here,_he decided. _Suzume doesn't look stable. She doesn't sound like she's fully in control. If she really is crazy, then she could go off at any minute, and whoever she is, Marie says she's dangerous. We can't overdo it._

"Hostage situation," muttered Kanji. "Damn."

"Yup," agreed Yosuke unhappily. "Why does this feel so familiar?"

"Suzume-san," began Yu, careful to keep his voice level, rational, and gentle. "Why do you want Marie to stay so badly? She could get hurt in here. There are shadows everywhere. You don't want her to get hurt, do you?"

This didn't seem to bother Suzume at all. "No shadows will hurt her," she assured Yu, shaking her head. "Kusumi-no-okami won't interest the shadows. They don't want to attack her. They're afraid of her, and they love her…just like I love her."

"Ah," breathed Naoto. "I see…"

Yu nodded to himself as realization dawned. _Kusumi-no-okami_, he thought. _She knows Marie's true name. Then, that must mean that she's…one of them? But, how is that possible? We defeated all of Izanami's creations ten years ago. We destroyed the fog and persuaded the creature producing the fog to leave us alone. There's no reason for any of those monsters to be back tormenting us again. I thought we had an understanding…a deal. I thought this was all over._

Naoto stepped quietly to Yu's side, and he didn't try to stop her. Behind him, he could hear the rest of his friends beginning to murmur restlessly amongst themselves.

"How do you know Kusumi-no-okami?" asked Naoto. "You seem fully aware that she does not come from our world; the world of human kind. How, then, do you know her so well?"

"Yes," added Yukiko. "Suzume-san, who are you, really?"

Suzume sighed, and glanced at Marie. "I guess it's not a secret anymore," she murmured regretfully. "But, that's all right. I don't need to keep any more secrets. Do you want me to tell them? Should I?"

Marie nodded. "Uh…yeah. Tell them. Tell them everything."

"All right." Suzume turned her attention back to Yu, Naoto, and Yukiko. "Then I will tell you. I think you'll be surprised." She smiled. "Kusumi-no-okami and I are the same. We're…well, we're family, like you and Nanako-chan!"

_Family, _mused Yu. "Then," he said aloud, "you're related to each other. You come from the same place You're…you were both created by the goddess Izanami."

"Yes." Suzume was still smiling, but something in her eyes had darkened, and Yu risked a quick look over his shoulder to see just how far his friends were from the exit in case they needed to run for it. "We were created by the goddess, Izanami-no-Mikoto. We are both a part of the same whole. We're the same kind."

"Uh, no," muttered Marie resentfully. "I'm nothing like you. You're like…you're like a trash can. No, you're like what's at the bottom of the trash can. All the stuff that nobody wants and that it's too gross to touch."

"Marie!" cautioned Yu, but it was too late. Suzume's eyes flashed as she spun on her heel to glare at Marie. Apparently undaunted, Marie gazed back into Suzume's eyes, then shrugged and shifted her weight against the wall.

"You can't hurt _me," _she said. "What kind of good would that do? I thought you'd been looking for me for 'so long,' right? So? You can't kill me anyway? I'm way more powerful than you. I'll just drown you in rain and flood this whole place, or…or something. Anyway. You back the hell off, trash girl."

_She really doesn't sound too sure about that, _realized Yu. _It's all Marie's bravado._

Suzume seethed. Eager to distract Suzume's attention from Marie, Yu looked to Naoto. She nodded.

"What is Kusumi-no-okami talking about?" inquired Naoto steadily, in the same unhurried, conversational tone of voice.

"Yes," agreed Yukiko. "Why would she say such a cruel, horrible thing about you? It's not nice at all to call people names. Why would a member of your family do something like that?"

Yu thought that Yukiko was being a little bit too nice, and that treating Suzume like a child was only going to make her angrier and less rational. Suzume, however, didn't seem to notice the babying tone in Yukiko's voice. Instead, she just shook her head, sadly.

"But it's not cruel," she informed Yukiko. "It's just…it's just the truth. I am trash. I am something that someone threw away.

"What? No, don't say that," added Rise, taking Yukiko's cue. "You're not-!"

"But I am!" Now, Suzume did sound angry. "I told you, that's the truth. I'm…I'm nothing. No, I'm not nothing. I'm a memory. I'm every awful memory."

While she spoke, now staring fixedly at the floor, Suzume seemed to be growing in size. Yu and his entire party took a few slow, careful steps backward, eager not to arouse her attention as her body twisted and deformed, very much the same way a shadow's body did as it transferred between the form of the host and its true form. Suzume's skin darkened and turned blotchy, until it was almost black and covered with huge, pus-filled welts and boils. Her eyes disappeared into a mass of what looked like mud that had entirely covered her face.

"See?" shouted Marie unnecessarily. "I told you! What are you waiting for? RUN!"

Suzume, or whatever she had become, made no move, however, to attack. "I am Oboe-no-okami," she sighed, still in her own voice, although that voice had increased in volume and power until it seemed to fill the entire space. "I am the Memories of the Great…the memories of Izanami."

"She's back," mumbled Kanji. "It's that goddess again. Senpai, didn't we already handle this?"

"No…you're wrong." Marie was shaking her head. "Anyway, that's impossible. I'M Izanami. Or…I was. I…she's a part of me. They're all a part of me."

"Including Suzume," supplied Yu.

"Y-yeah." Marie nodded. "Her, too. Only…"

"At the end of everything," intoned Suzume, as though she were telling some old folk story, "the goddess Izanami was faced with a choice. She had agreed to cease her interference within the realm of mankind, and to allow human beings to make and live by their own decisions, for good or for evil. The goddess had seen so much cruelty and sadness from the world of man, however, that she struggled to let go of her desire to protect them by offering them the oblivion they so clearly craved. When the struggle became too much for her, she bundled up her memories of mankind. She took each horrible memory, each memory of sadness, of loneliness, of greed and of vice. She added her own memories, the memories of betrayal by people she had loved…the memories from long ago, when the world began. Then, with her eyes turned towards hope, she created a vessel for those memories, and cast the memories aside, abandoning them forever to live a new life…a life of hope for the future, and for all human kind."

"Oh crap," whispered Chie. "So, then, you're saying that-!"

"Yes," agreed Suzume, or Oboe-no-okami, nodding once. As she nodded a maggot fell out of the place where her face should have been, and skittered frantically across the floor. "I am the entity born of those memories. I am the unwanted, the cast-off recollections of humanity."

**Chapter 99: Chapter Ninety Seven: The Truth**

**Author's Note: **In this chapter, people talk a lot, and there is barely any action at all.

It would make a terrible play.

Don't worry, though. Incredibly soon, there will be a great deal of action again when the final battle begins!

**Chapter Ninety Seven: The Truth**

"Marie-chan," whispered Yukiko, "I don't understand. How could you do something like that? You, of all people?"

"Yeah, that's right," Rise agreed. "You know what it feels like to be left behind and ignored. How could you wish that on another person? That's…that's just mean!"

Marie shook her head emphatically. "What are you talking about? This has nothing to do with me! I'm not the one who created this girl. The goddess did it."

"But, Emmy-chan…aren't you the goddess?" Teddie looked puzzled.

"No!" Marie let out an exasperated sigh. "Well…okay, sort of. I mean, she's a part of me…and I'm a part of her. But, that doesn't make us the same person!"

"That," retorted Yosuke, "doesn't make any sense."

Marie closed her eyes for a minute. Yu thought she was starting to look extremely tired, for all that she kept saying she was going to be just fine. "I can't really explain it," she muttered eventually. "She created me…and then she joined me. We…we're part of the same whole, but we're not the same. I'm still me, right? So, I'm not the one who did this. When the goddess realized that she didn't want those memories anymore, she created this girl, Oboe-no-okami. It's not like she asked my permission first, or anything. She didn't take away my memories…again." This time, Marie looked resentful. "Had enough of that the first time…"

"But even though you say that your memories weren't taken," insisted Yukiko quietly, "you didn't remember Suzume."

"Right," agreed Marie. "Because Suzume, or whatever you call her, isn't made of my memories. She's made of someone else's memories. I'm not supposed to remember her!"

Kanji frowned. "Then, uh, how do you remember her now?"

Marie slumped down against the wall. "I…I don't know," she admitted. "I guess maybe I don't remember. It's the goddess that remembers. The goddess in me…she's the one who's remembering, not me. Because I can't, obviously. Suzume and I never knew each other before."

Everyone was silent, clearly confused. _This, _decided Yu, _is getting us absolutely nowhere. Maybe there are some things that we never will understand. At least it wouldn't be the first time we've been forced to accept what we can't explain._

Oboe-no-okami had begun to shrink and change, until the muck and grime had disappeared and she was again Suzume, looking slightly shaken but otherwise almost jarringly normal. She beamed at the frustrated Marie.

"Of course you remember me now," she said. "We're a part of each other. We're the same kind of being. You and I are the only ones in the world really like each other."

"Shut up," snarled Marie. "I hate you."

"Suzume-san," murmured Naoto, sharing a quick look with Yu. "There are several things about this situation that we still fail to understand. If it is true that you are, in fact, a discarded fragment of the goddess Izanami, then why is it that you have been killing innocent people? Was it not the goddess Izanami's wish that human kind be left to fend for itself? I understood that she wanted the human race to be happy, whatever that may mean."

Suzume shook her head. "I didn't kill them," she insisted. "I didn't hurt them at all. I only gave them a choice."

Now that she was human again, Suzume's face was much easier to read, and Yu couldn't see any hint of remorse in it.

"A choice?" Yukiko frowned. "What kind of a choice?"

"What, like…'do what I say, or die?'" growled Kanji. "That kind of a fucking choice?"

Again, Suzume shook her head, more forcefully this time. "No…no. It was nothing like that."

Suzume looked over at Marie, who nodded. Yu took the opportunity to glance behind him, and found that Dojima and Yanase both seemed to have passed out on the floor, too fatigued from their ordeal with the shadows to face any more. Nanako was kneeling in between them, looking frightened and very small. She whispered something that Yu couldn't hear, and then her persona, Tatsu-ta-hime, cast a healing glow over them both.

"I've been alone here for so long," began Suzume. "All the days and nights began to blur together. Time never changed. The seasons never changed. Shadows were around me, but nothing else. I knew about the human world, and about people from the memories inside me. I knew that it was a horrible place full of hatred, evil, death and sadness. I didn't want to go there. I didn't want anything to do with humans. I wandered around this world, just remembering, until one day…I saw you."

Unexpectedly, Suzume turned and looked at Yosuke.

"Wha…me?" Yosuke stared. "Wait, me? Where the held id you see me? You're saying I was in the TV world?"

"That's impossible." Yu shook his head. "None of us have been in here since the instance ten years ago when Izanami agreed to leave the human world alone. You couldn't have seen us."

"Are you sure?" Suzume frowned. "But…I remember seeing you. I remember Yosuke. He was here was some other people that I haven't seen since. There was a girl, and a boy, and…oh." Suddenly, she glanced down at her hands. "But, if I remember, then maybe that's why you don't. I see…"

Yu did not see at all. His head had begun to hurt.

"Never mind that. We can come back to it at a later date," insisted Naoto. "What happened after you saw Yosuke-senpai?"

"Oh…that's right." Suzume nodded. "Well, when I saw Yosuke…I knew who he was. I remembered him, you see, because the goddess knew him. Yosuke…no, all of you were the ones who changed my world. You made the goddess want to forget."

"So, you hated us," Rise murmured. "Because of what we'd done to you. You hated the fact that we'd made her get rid of you, right?"

Suzume's eyes widened. "Oh, no! I didn't hate you. You made the goddess happy. That was the one thing that I remembered about happiness. I knew that the goddess had been happy, because of you. I just..." Suzume bit her lip. "You were the closest thing that I could find to the goddess. You were people who had known her, who had touched her. I thought that maybe, if I knew you too, then I could find her again. And…and I did." She smiled at Marie, who didn't waste time smiling back. "You helped me meet her. You were everything I'd hoped you'd be."

"Tell us more about the choices," persisted Naoto. "You told us that you had people make choices. Why did you do that? What kind of choices were they?"

"Well," replied Suzume, "after I saw Yosuke, I came into the human world. I wanted to meet you all, and I found out about Kusumi-no-okami, so, I stayed at the TV station. I stayed there every day, hoping for a chance to meet or be with her, but she didn't seem to notice me." For a moment, Suzume's face darkened again. "While I was there, in the human world, I saw things. I saw them on the news, and in people's faces. I realized how sad some people were, and how lonely. I knew what that felt like. I know loneliness. When someone you love leaves you behind, or abandons you, it's horrible. I remembered every person who'd been left behind before, and…I remembered myself. The goddess wanted the human world to be a better place. She wanted humans to be happy and to get what they truly wanted. I wanted to help her. Maybe, I thought, if I could help her, then she'd remember me. Maybe she'd notice that I could be good, too, just like the things that she wanted to keep."

_So, _thought Yu, _this is the part where she says that whatever she did, she did it all for Marie, right? _Marie seemed to have reached the same conclusion, and was now looking distinctly uncomfortable. Suzume didn't appear to have noticed.

"I am the memories of all the people that have died before their time," Suzume continued. "I am the memories of all the things that the goddess did; things that she no longer wants to have done. I have the powers that she wished she hadn't used. So…I came back into this world, and I created things. I changed things. I made the world look like the places people wanted to see. I took the people that were still inside them, people they loved and missed, and I brought those people out into this world."

"The shadows," mused Yu. "Our shadows. You're talking about the way our shadows turned into the images of people we were grieving for."

Suzume nodded. "That's right." She looked rather pleased with herself. "I did that. I molded them after the people in your souls. I took everything that I found inside of you, every memory that you had of them or feeling that they roused in you, and I created them. I even changed the rules of this world so that it would happen without my help. I did a good job."

"Yes…you did. They looked so real." Yukiko wasn't trying to sound kind or friendly anymore. She wasn't even looking at Suzume. "They felt real, too."

Suzume looked delighted. Yu felt a bit sick to his stomach just watching how proud she was of herself.

"And then," said Suzume eagerly, "I started bringing people into the TV. I brought people who were lonely, or who needed my help. They'd stay up, staring at the TV, watching the faces I'd created, and then I'd just...gently bring them inside. Some of them were so happy when they saw their old friends or lost loves…but some of them cried. Some of them didn't know what to do."

Suzume paused then for a moment, clasping and unclasping her hands together in front of her, as though suddenly nervous about something. "But the first person died," she whispered eventually. "The shadow I'd changed…it killed him. I was scared. I wasn't trying to kill anyone. I didn't understand why that had happened; I thought I must have done something wrong. I tried again, but again, the old man died, and then I decided that I didn't want to bring any more people into the TV. People break too easily."

"So? What changed your mind?" grumbled Yosuke.

Suzume pointed at him." You did. Again, it was you. You came into this world with your friends before I'd had a chance to change the rules back. Shadows were still the way that I'd designed them to be, and yours looked like…me, sort of." She glanced down briefly at herself. "I didn't want you to die. I was going to stop it. I was watching the whole time, and I wasn't going to let it hurt you, but…I didn't have to stop it. You defeated your shadow by yourself, and then…I realized."

No one said anything while Suzume gazed off thoughtfully into space. _Realized what?_ wondered Yu. _Did she realize that we already had personas? That people with personas are stronger, and able to fend for themselves more easily? Did she decide that we weren't easy victims?_

"I realized," murmured Suzume, "that he must have wanted to die."

The entire room was silent. Several people stared, mouths hanging open in bemused shock.

"Wh-why the heck would you think that?" stammered Chie. "Why would anyone want to die?"

"Because," returned Suzume, looking at Chie, "He missed the person he loved so much. All of the people who died in here; they were lonely. They wanted to be back with the people they'd loved. When I gave them the chance, they chose to go with their loved ones, rather than to stay in this world. You weren't as lonely. You'd already forgotten, and moved on. You didn't want to leave. So, I let you be. I didn't stop you. You made a different choice."

"What the fuck?" shouted Kanji, his face turning red. "It's not a goddamn choice! No one wants to be killed by a shadow of their fucking grandmother, or whatever. They just weren't strong enough. They couldn't fight back."

"You took their will to live away," agreed Naoto quietly, "when you forced each person to face the loved one that he or she had lost. They were unable to fight back, and so, they lost their lives. It has nothing at all to do with choice."

"No. That' can't be." Suzume shook her head. "If that's true, then how did you fight back? You didn't die. None of you died. Do you see?"

_Yes, _realized Yu, _I dos see. I see that you are very confused, and that you have an extremely skewed sense of logic which wouldn't hold up in a court of law. Do murder victims choose to be murdered if they aren't quick enough or strong enough o fight back? People are frequently shot or clubbed to death in the real world, in fights or over money. Did they decide to die because they weren't skilled enough to protect themselves? That way of thinking is incredibly dangerous._

"I didn't kill them," repeated Suzume, for all the world as though she'd just scored a valuable, irrefutable point. "They wanted to die. They made the choice to let go. They wanted to-!"

"You're WRONG!" Nanako was suddenly standing at Yu's side, seething as tears collected in her eyes and begin streaming down her face. "It's hard to be alone…and it's hard when people you love leave you. It's hard, and it hurts, and sometimes it takes a long time to move on. Sometimes…it takes forever." For a moment, Nanako glanced back at Dojima, before returning her attention to Suzume. "But that's what people do. We try. We try to get better, and we try to keep going. Helping people give up and die is just another way of killing people!"

Suzume looked genuinely surprised, and a bit hurt. Maybe it was the force of Nanako's reaction that had finally gotten through to her.

"You have to stop," whispered Nanako, her voice shaking a little bit. "You have to stop this. No one else should have to face that kind of a 'choice.' It's just wrong…and it's unfair!"

The rest of the investigation team began to stir at last, roused by Nanako's outburst.

"She's right," agreed Yosuke. "I mean…of course she is. Murder is murder. There's no two ways about it."

"Everyone deserves the chance to choose to survive," agreed Yukiko sadly.

"Definitely." Chie was glaring, clenching both fists at her sides. "There's no way that we can just let you keep doing this. We're not gonna let this go. We'll fight you if we have to, but you better believe that we're gonna stop you, one way or another!"

Suzume gazed around at the mumbling, angry members of the former investigation team. She looked temporarily lost.

"You're…you're going to fight me?" she asked.

"Yu!" called Marie." Be careful! I already told you, she's powerful, and she's dangerous."

"She is also clearly mentally deranged," agreed Naoto. "Everyone, be on your guard. This could be an extremely difficult fight.

Each member of the team summoned his or her persona, until nine powerful personas stood prepared for combat, weapons in hand, before Suzume and Marie.

"Ready?" shouted Chie. "Okay! Here we-!"

"But…we aren't going to fight," murmured Suzume. "I don't have to fight any of you."

Chie shut her mouth. The rest of the team stared. Slowly, inch by inch, Suzume raised one arm into the air.

**Chapter 100: Chapter Ninety Eight: Shatter**

**Chapter Ninety Eight: Shatter**

"I am Oboe-no-okami, the Memories of the Great," murmured Suzume quietly, without any bravado, but rather as a simple statement of fact. "I encompass and rule over the collective memories of all mankind. It's all the goddess left me."

"So? So what?" Yosuke's persona, Bishamonten, had its sword upraised and its teeth clenched, clearly prepared and aching for a fight. "You already said that. We got it."

"We defeated a goddess," Rise reminded her, "and you're only part of a goddess. What makes you think you can stop us? We have totally got this. We can take you!"

Again, Suzume shook her head. "You can't," she insisted. "No one is going to fight today. You have already made your choice. You've chosen to live without your memories. I won't be responsible for taking your lives, now that you've decided."

Naoto shook her head. "The choice is now yours," she said. "You may agree to cease your activities within this world, and promise us that you will never again present a lonely soul with what you refer to as a 'choice.' If you are unwilling to make that promise, then we have no choice but to fight and defeat you for the sake of our world. You must understand that."

"I do understand," returned Suzume, still smiling. "But…you don't. You see, your weakened, half-forgotten memories have been my only companions for so many years. They will come when I call."

As Suzume finished speaking, Yu began to feel an uncomfortable pull somewhere deep inside of him, as though something was tugging on the very strings of his soul. He gasped and felt his legs begin to buckle, aware even as he struggled to remain upright that his friends all around him were beginning to suffer the same distress.

"Ow…" whispered Chie. "Wait, what the hell is going on here?"

"God…damnit," snarled Kanji.

Yu's persona Amida-Nyorai shuddered once, and then began drifting slowly, one long step after another towards Suzume. Yosuke's Bishamonten soon followed, and after him went Chie's Benzaiten. Rise's Kannon followed after that, and Naoto's Fudo Myoo fell into step behind them, until one by one each new persona belonging to the investigation team had begun marching towards Suzume, summoned, no doubt, by her still upraised hand. She smiled, and beckoned them closer to her.

"You see?" asked Suzume. "I control your memories. Your souls are bound up, now, in the memories you met and faced here. Your personas and your most precious memories…they're one and the same, now. There's no point in resisting. It's all right, I won't hurt you. I won't hurt these precious pieces of your soul, either. Leave, now, and I will release you. I can't let you take away the only gift that I was given by the goddess…the gift to offer mankind this merciful choice."

The pain and discomfort, Yu realized, was beginning to recede. _She really doesn't want to hurt us, _he thought, _but that's not enough. Nanako was right. We can't allow this to continue. She's much more powerful than I'd realized, though. Marie wasn't kidding when she said we should be careful._

"Sensei!" cried Teddie desperately. "Uh…what do we do, now?"

Yu shook his head. _I have no idea. Without our personas, how can face her? There's nothing we can do…_

**Meanwhile, in the Velvet Room…**

Adachi was standing in the doorway, watching what he could of the confrontation through a crack in the door.

"Are you not going to go and join your friends?" asked Margaret, one eyebrow raised. "They face difficult odds. I am certain that your help would be exceptionally welcome."

Adachi shook his head impatiently. "They aren't my friends. Bunch of dumbass, goody-two-shoes kids. Besides, that detective tried to shoot me."

Igor looked like he couldn't decide if he wanted to be amused or disgusted. Those were, in fact, the only two emotions that Adachi had ever really noticed on Igor's usually so impassive, inscrutable face. "She did not succeed," Igor noted.

"Yeah," muttered Adachi "No thanks to you. You think you could have warned me, or something? The hell good am I to you if they drag me back to prison again? Can't be much of a persona user from behind bars, that's for sure."

Margaret and Igor were silent for a moment, and Adachi could just imagine them sharing one of their quietly knowing looks behind his back.

"You are not much of a persona user now," murmured Margaret eventually. "In here, untested and untried, your powers are…singularly useless."

_Damn. Got a point there, _realized Adachi, annoyed. He was attempting to think of some kind of snarky, effective response to Margaret's comment when suddenly all of the personas belonging to members of the former investigation team began moving together in Suzume's direction.

"Ah," sighed Igor. "It begins."

Adachi frowned. "What the…?"

Stepping cautiously around the door, he leaned out to get a better look at the scene. The investigation team was standing in a sort of haphazard line, each individual looking dumbstruck and vaguely nauseous as their personas left them, apparently to join the enemy.

""You see," the Suzume girl was saying. "I control your memories. Your souls are bound up, now, in the memories you met and faced here. Your personas and your most precious memories…they're one and the same, now. There's no point in resisting. It's all right…I won't hurt you. I won't hurt these precious pieces of your soul, either. Leave, now, and I will release you. I can't let you take away the only gift that I was given by the goddess…the gift to offer mankind this merciful choice."

"Tch," muttered Adachi. _Well, isn't this kinda funny. Narukami and his friends have spent weeks, maybe even months nagging at me and shouting at me about being in control and getting a grip on my persona and myself, and all of that crap…and now it looks like they're the ones who can't keep themselves together. Those personas are just wandering off, huh? So much for being in control. How's hypocrisy feel?_

Adachi saw Nanako, her eyes squeezed tightly shut and her fists clenched hard at her sides, taking deep breaths as Tatsu-ta-hime drifted farther and farther away from her. She looked as though she were trying to will the persona not to leave her, and there was something so ridiculous about the squashed look that came over her face when she squinted her eyes that way that Adachi found himself starting to laugh. It was adorable, and it was stupid.

Then, abruptly, Nanako opened her eyes and looked straight at Adachi, and he realized that his thoughts must have been loud enough to reach her. She looked desperately back and forth between him and her departing persona, opened her mouth, and then shut it again, shaking her head.

_Adachi-san, _she thought directly into Adachi's mind. _Help us. Please._

"Aw, come on," sighed Adachi. "What the hell do you expect me to do?"

_I don't know!_ Nanako glared at him. _But you have to try something! Please! For me, and…for Dad. _She shot a glance over at where Dojima was lying, still passed out and prone on the ground. Adachi felt a twinge in his stomach.

"Like that's any kind of incentive," he muttered. "It's not like Dojima-san's ever done shit for me."

Nanako didn't bother responding to that. She just raised an eyebrow. Adachi felt his cheeks start to burn a bit.

"Okay, okay, fine!" He sighed. _What the hell am I supposed to do, just attack her? I mean, I guess that's the obvious choice, right now, but what chance have I got? If you're all such fantastic, skilled persona users, and you couldn't keep control, then how am I supposed to do it? I can barely stop my persona from tearing ME to shreds!_

Realization dawned, and Adachi sucked in a sharp, surprised breath. Then he took one last long look at Nanako, steeled himself, and abandoned the Velvet Room door yet again. Striding down right into the center of the plain, he turned his back on the investigation team and faced Suzume, who looked mildly surprised, but not terribly interested in his arrival.

_In about three seconds, _he thought at Nanako, _you better start running like hell._

"What? Wait, why?" asked Nanako out loud. Adachi ignored her.

"Hi there," he said to Suzume.

"You're…Adachi," said Suzume, looking him up and down with distaste in her eyes. "The murderer. I remember you. You're the weak one. You are the emptiness."

"That's...ugh, you're really sweet, aren't you?" he mumbled sarcastically, trying not to let that remark sting. "The emptiness? Yeah, I don't know about that. I wouldn't call myself 'empty.' See, I have a persona, too. Here, you want to see it?"

At Adachi's summons, Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto erupted out of his soul and stood just in front of him, legs splayed and poised for the attack. She was already fighting against his mental hold, and he heard the strain in his own voice as he grappled with her psychologically, forcing her to stay put and shut up. Somehow, maybe through the strength of desperation, Adachi managed to restrain her. She gazed at him balefully over her shoulder, then finally gave in, relaxed, and stopped struggling.

"Adachi-san," began Nanako. "What are you-?"

"Do you wish to release your memories to me as well?" inquired Suzume.

_Oh, you have no idea, _thought Adachi. "That's…kind of a tough question to answer," he responded. "Here's the thing about me. I'm difficult. I'm a pain in the ass. I don't love authority figures, and I don't do well with orders and instructions. In fact, I'm pretty much useless. I don't fall in line. Maybe that's why the real world never had a place for me."

Suzume was beginning to look slightly bored. By now, all of the other personas had joined her, and were lined up beside her, staring back at their former masters out of emotionless eyes.

"And my persona," Adachi went on, "is part of me, right? So, she's kind of a pain in the ass too. Hell, most of the time, she doesn't even listen to what I tell her."

Behind him, Adachi heard Nanako inhale sharply and then begin whispering to whoever was next to her. _Here we go, _he thought. _Showtime._

He shrugged. "But, hey, who knows? Maybe she'll listen to you. There's a first time for everything, right?"

Adachi took a deep breath. Then, all at once, he relaxed his mental hold on Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto. As he began backing away from her, reeling from the sudden release of control, his persona let out one cackle of free, maliciously delighted glee, and took off into the air. Suzume raised her arm imperiously, apparently attempting to draw the persona to her, but Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto just gave her one quick, disdainful look, and then dashed forward with a gleam of madness in her eye, both powerful arms stretched out towards Suzume's neck.

Suzume screamed in shock and terror as Adachi's persona began tearing at her throat. At the same time, the rest of the personas suddenly shook themselves and began rushing back towards their masters, apparently having been released from Suzume's mental hold in the moment of her distraction.

"Adachi-san!" cried Nanako, as personas and masters re-united all around her. "You did it! You came back! I knew you would! I believed in you!"

"Yeah…right. Sure." Adachi shoved Nanako roughly towards Yu, who had just appeared at her side. "Now do like I said and get the hell out of here before shit starts to get ugly." Another strangled scream came from Suzume, and Adachi could see blood spurting from somewhere out of the corner of his eye. Yu winced, and forced Nanako around, away from the sight.

Yosuke was on his knees, rousing Dojima and helping him on to his feet. Naoto was doing the same for that woman detective, and the rest of the investigation team had retreated to the farthest corner of the room, each of their faces expressing disgust and horror as they tried not to watch the carnage that was the encounter between Suzume and Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto.

"What's going to happen?" asked Nanako breathlessly." Is she…are you going to kill her?"

Adachi shrugged. "I have no idea,' he admitted. "Look," he added, turning to Yu, "just get her out of here, okay?"

"You have to call your persona off." Yu was firm. "Stop this before it gets out of hand."

Adachi laughed a desperate, crazed sort of laugh, and ran a nervous hand through his hair. "I can't. I mean…I don't know. I let her go. I released control. It's hard enough as it is trying to get her to listen to me. Once I've let her go…she'll come back when she's ready."

Yu frowned, and took one long look at Suzume and the persona.

"All your hard work for nothing, huh?" Adachi shook his head. "Oh well. You said it from the start; I'm a lost cause, and all that shit. Now get the fuck out!"

He shoved Nanako bodily towards the rest of the team, just as Suzume dropped to the ground with a thud, bleeding from several places and breathing in hard, rasping gasps. Apparently tired of her defeated prey, Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto took a quick look around the room for something else to play with. Her eyes rested on Adachi, just as Yu grabbed Nanako and dragged her away towards his friends.

"Crap," muttered Adachi, as Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto's eyes narrowed and her lips turned up into a sickening smile. Just for a moment, Adachi thought he saw his own face grinning manically back at him out of those yellow eyes.

Then, she lunged. There was even more rage and hatred than usual built up in her sneering face as she came for him this time, and Adachi could feel waves of resentment flowing from her. He could feel the way she hated him for having restrained her, and hated him for having deigned to let her have her way. She hated him for being enough of a sap to break his cover for Nanako's sake, and she hated him for being enough of a bleeding heart to fight someone else's battle. She hated him with a kind of slow building hatred that mounted and intensified the closer she got. Adachi found himself frozen to the spot, transfixed by the rage and the glee in his/ her eyes, which he knew came from a place inside of him that made him sick to his stomach whenever he accessed or felt it.

_This is it, _he thought. _Game over. _Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto was reaching for his throat, and a little, buried part of him was ready to welcome it.

"NO!"

Adachi heard Nanako's terrified scream, and heard the frantic footsteps approaching from behind. He didn't have time to turn around and face her, to push her away or to shield her. He stood there, his mind blank as she threw herself in front of him, holding up both hands in front of her face and summoning her persona with a panicked shriek.

"Tatsu-ta-hime, HELP!"

Tatsu-ta-hime materialized in an instant, forming a wall between Nanako, Adachi, and the oncoming beserk persona. Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto collided hard with Tatsu-ta-hime, wrenching at Tatsu-ta-hime's slender neck with both violent hands.

Something cracked. Something tore. There was a noise like a dying sigh. Then Tatsu-ta-hime shattered into a thousand glowing, glimmering pieces, and Nanako, standing just behind her, suddenly collapsed to the ground in a heap.

**Chapter 101: Chapter Ninety Nine: Symbiosis Revisited**

**Author's Note: **This chapter is so incredibly crucial to the future of the story, plot, and characters…and I am not satisfied with it at all.

As I have said so many times before, please bear with me, and I apologize if the work is not quite good enough. I will go back, redress and edit as necessary, but for the moment I must move the story along, since I have promised myself to pots the final chapter on Christmas Day, which is…tomorrow.

**Chapter Ninety Nine: Symbiosis Revisited**

Adachi saw the persona explode. For a moment, the light was so blinding that he had to shield his eyes, and when the shimmer faded again and Adachi was able to look, Tatsu-ta-hime was gone without a trace, and Nanako was lying in a motionless bundle, face down on the ground. All surrounding activity seemed to have stopped, and everyone was staring at Nanako's prone form. Even Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto had stopped her rampage and was gazing curiously down at Nanako.

"Nanako," muttered Dojima, sounding hoarse and uncertain. Adachi stepped aside and Dojima, apparently oblivious to Adachi's presence, strode over, bent down, and took Nanako in his arms.

"What's happened to her?" asked the detective named Cho.

Yu shook his head. "I…I don't know. Uncle Dojima, is she-?"

Dojima's voice seemed to come from somewhere very dark and far away. "She's not breathing," he said flatly. "She's…she's not moving. Nanako…"

There were various gasps and cries of alarm from the assembled investigation team. Adachi felt as though he was rooted to the spot, lost in a sluggish mist while everything took place around him, happening not to him but to someone else.

_She's not breathing, _he repeated inside his head.

"Sh-she blocked that attack with her persona's body," Chie was saying, her voice shaking as though she was trying to fend off tears. "Um, personas aren't supposed to do that, are they? They're not supposed to fight each other head-on like that."

"At least Nanako's persona doesn't have that ability," agreed Naoto quietly. "Hers is a support persona. It is not suited to combat of any kind."

"I…I don't get it." Kanji shook his head. "Where the hell did it go?"

Naoto was gazing down at Nanako, and now her eyes were also beginning to brim with tears. It was weird, thought Adachi distantly, having to watch the hard-boiled Detective Shirogane beginning to cry. "It's gone," whispered Naoto. "And Nanako is…"

…_Dead_, finished the voice in the back of Adachi's mind. His limbs felt heavy and his breath was coming in strange sorts of shuddering gasps as the situation started to take shape in his mind. _She's not moving. She's not breathing. She…goddamnit. GODDAMNIT._

Slowly, Dojima got back to his feet. Adachi didn't have to turn around to feel Dojima's eyes boring holes of hatred into his back.

"You did this," snarled Dojima. Adachi could hear muscles popping as Dojima's fists clenched. He didn't bother to steel himself for a blow. He knew it wouldn't hurt him. He didn't care. He was waiting for it, willing it to happen. He wanted Dojima to hit him so hard that it knocked him out of thinking, out of feeling, and into next week. He was looking forward to the connection of that punch, craving some kind of pain to help him make this make sense.

_Dead, _he thought. He couldn't make the word mean anything.

Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto was still looking down quizzically at Nanako's body, her head cocked to one side. Gradually, as Adachi watched, the persona straightened up again, and a sick sort of fascinated smile started to spread over her face as she gazed at her handiwork. She grinned up triumphantly at Adachi, her eyes dancing with malicious merriment, as though telling him that she, or whatever part of him she encompassed, had finally won the game.

_Yeah, _thought Adachi. _I did this. Hell, I wanted to do it. Looks like I'm even proud of it. God fucking shit…_

Behind him, several people had now begun to cry. He could hear Chie, Rise, Naoto, and Teddie all sobbing like their hearts were irreparably broken. It sounded like Kanji was crying too, which Adachi might have found funny if there had been any room in his sickened mind for humor at this point.

There wasn't. The only thing there was any room for was a sort of nauseated self-hatred that he felt taking over as he stared back into the eyes of his other self. He felt sick to his stomach in a whole new way, sickened by the sight of himself. He hated himself; hated looking at himself, and feeling like himself.

_I told her, _thought what was left of his miserable humanity. _I told her to stay away. I told her that I had it in for her. I told her it wasn't any good, believing in me._

"Adachi," began Yu. Adachi ignored him.

"Come here," he hissed at Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto.

She blinked at him, and then shrugged.

"Come here. Now," snarled Adachi, in a voice that he knew came from the same depths of his soul where Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto and all of her hatred and malice lived.

This time, Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto looked startled, maybe by the anger in his voice, or the firmness of his command. She came, very slowly, and rested just in front of him, a few feet away from where everyone else was clustered around Nanako's body.

"Game over, huh?" muttered Adachi, choking on rage and loathing. "Is that how this is supposed to work?"

Now, Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto was starting to look uncertain, almost frightened. She began to back away, but Adachi reached out and grabbed her by the arm. She froze in her tracks.

"Go on, then," he bit out at her, feeling the darkness pounding inside of him with every word he spoke. "You want a victim so bad, then do your thing. Go on."

At first, the persona did nothing, as though she honestly wasn't certain what he meant. Then, very suddenly, she had her hands around her own neck and was gripping hard, screeching with terror and anger as she grappled with and strangled herself. One of her legs kicked out and smashed into her own face, and she stumbled, then righted herself and released her neck with one arm to begin wrenching savagely at the hair on her own head. Her body seemed to be moving of its own accord without her permission. Desperately, she tried to regain control over herself, but no matter how hard she struggled, she kept stabbing and bashing at every inch of herself with all four limbs. Her teeth raked down her arm and she clawed at her own face with one hand, shutting her eyes as something that looked almost like blood began to spurt from under one of the lids.

That same substance began to pour from wounds she was inflicting upon herself, and with every spurt of that bloodlike stuff came another desperate, aching cry.

It hurt Adachi like unholy hell,. It was deliciously painful. He watched himself wreaking havoc on himself, and it felt good. He liked listening to the sound of himself scream. As he forced himself to tear himself to pieces, he smiled, and this time it was Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto who was terrified of his demented smile.

"Wh-what the hell is that thing doing?" demanded Kanji.

"Oh…" Yukiko sucked in a surprised breath. "It's destroying itself. How…how horrible."

Out of the corner of his eyes, which were clouding over with pain, Adachi saw Yu staring at him.

"What? Did he seriously order it to kill itself?" Yosuke sounded incredulous. "Holy crap…but I thought he didn't have any control!"

"The strength of desperation," muttered Yu, "lends control. He's speaking its language, now. It understands pain, rage, and suffering."

Adachi wasn't sure how long he stood there, flickering in and out of miserable, loathed consciousness while his persona dismantled itself limb by limb. He could feel the pain and see the red, and his breaths were coming shallower and more infrequent as he felt his knees beginning to buckle under him. He swayed briefly, righted himself, lost his footing again, and then…the blow finally fell.

Something slammed hard into his face. Adachi reeled back, suffused with an entirely different kind of real, acute, personal pain. Beside him, Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto stopped tearing at her own arms and shrieked in shock, apparently distracted from her self-abuse by whatever had just struck Adachi.

"What the hell good is that supposed to do Nanako?" Dojima was standing in front of Adachi, livid and seething. "What's the damn point? Like that's gonna solve anything, you selfish son of a bitch!" Then he turned and beseeched the rest of the group. "Someone, do something. Can anyone help her? You all have that power. You must be able to do something!"

Slowly, sadly, everyone shook their heads. Dojima slumped over, dejected, with Nanako still in his arms.

"Nanako," he whispered desperately, pressing her to his chest. "Come back to us."

"You're a fighter, remember?" Chie knelt down next to Dojima and spoke to the lifeless Nanako. "Remember? It's just like last time…you can't give up! We're all here for you. We're with you!"

Nanako, however, said nothing. Her head lolled ominously to one side, and Chie shut her eyes against a new onslaught of tears. Yukiko stepped to her side, and they hugged each other and wept.

Adachi's nose was bleeding from Dojima's punch, but he didn't care. As he wiped the blood from his chin and stared at the red stains on his fingers, Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto let out one more anguished cry of pain, and then dissolved in mid-air into droplets of red and black shadow essence. Adachi's mind went blank, and his last thought was a sort of satisfied realization that he, at least, had been standing for a few seconds longer than the remains of his other self.

Then, he collapsed, feeling the world ebbing in a way in a weird kind of slow motion.

He was still smiling.

_Game over, _he thought.

**Meanwhile, nearby…**

Dojima watched Adachi slump over and close his eyes. Several of Yu's friends glanced over at him in alarm, but Dojima just turned his back.

_It's what he wanted, _he thought, confused by the lump in his throat and the extra little stab in his chest. _It's what he deserved, anyway._

"What are we going to do?" sniffled Yukiko. "First Nanako-chan, and now Adachi-san, too…"

Yosuke shook his head at her. "Who the hell cares about Adachi? It's his fault that this happened to Nanako-chan in the first place! Let him die, for all I care."

Dojima noticed that Yosuke, too, didn't look as certain as he sounded. Kanji gave Yosuke a long, disappointed look. "You're cold, man," he muttered. "Guy just killed himself right in front of you."

Yu still hadn't said anything. Dojima waited for him to step in, to provide the answer and to promise that with his special television powers he would bring her back to life and save the day. Yu must have seen the half-crazed pleading look in Dojima's eyes, because he swallowed hard, and instantly stared at his shoes.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "Uncle Dojima, I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do."

Yanase reached out and placed a hand on Dojima's shoulder. "Sir," she whispered. "We…we have to get out of here. Maybe a doctor can help us. We should take Nanako-chan to the hospital right away."

Dojima knew, however, that a doctor wouldn't do any more good for Nanako than one could have done for Togoshi when they'd found him on the floor of the station. He glanced up into Yanase's eyes, and saw that she knew it too.

"Ryotaro?" From somewhere to Dojima's right, he could hear small, high-heeled footsteps approaching. Yanase gasped, and Dojima looked up to see Margaret running towards him, her eyes wide with shock.

"Margaret," he muttered. He wasn't surprised; or if he was, he was too numb from the blow of Nanako's death to care very much about Margaret's arrival. _Nothing matters anymore, _he thought. _None of this television crap…none of this magic. Nothing would surprise me, now. Nanako…nothing matters without her._

Yu took a step towards Margaret. "She's hurt," he said. "Her persona was injured. Can you help us?"

Margaret was now looking back and forth between Nanako and Adachi. She raised an eyebrow questioningly at Yu, who nodded once.

"Yes," he said. "It was the same for him."

That rankled. _It wasn't the same, _Dojima thought bitterly. _There was nothing in common between those two. He took his own life, like the coward he was. Nanako was a victim…_

For what felt like ages, Margaret stood and gazed quietly at the ground in between Nanako and Adachi.

"Come with me," she said at last. "We will speak with my master. Bring him," she added, pointing at Adachi.

Dojima wasn't sure what she was talking about, but everyone else moved instantly. Without saying a word, Yosuke and Kanji heaved Adachi up between the two of them, and began following Yu and the others who had taken off after Margaret. Yanase and Dojima, still clutching Nanako to his heart, brought up the end of the line.

"Wait here," Margaret told them, after they'd' traveled a few feet. Dojima didn't see where she went, but for a space of time she disappeared, reappearing eventually alongside a hunched and hideous elderly man. He had a long, crooked nose, protuberant ears, and a pair of huge eyes that immediately locked onto Nanako with almost morbid fascination in them.

"Interesting," muttered the man. "And you say that her condition is the result of a collision between personas? I cannot remember any instance of this happening before."

Dojima, irritated by the way that the old man was staring at his daughter, opened his mouth to object to that fascination. Margaret shook her head at him, and the old man hobbled slowly over to Dojima, reaching out both arms. "Give me the girl," he ordered.

"The hell I will," snarled Dojima. "Who are you? What do you want with Nanako?"

Margaret placed a gentle hand on Dojima's forearm. "Please…do as my master asks. It is the only way."

There was sincerity and pity in Margaret's voice, and the touch her fingers reminded Dojima of something comforting and true that he'd had for a very short time. Before he knew that he was doing it, he had passed Nanako over to the old man, who accepted her far more gently than Dojima would have expected. The man settled her on his knee, against his chest, and then looked up at the two boys who were holding Adachi. "Bring him, as well," he ordered. Yosuke ad Kanji complied.

"What's' wrong with Nana-chan?" asked Teddie, as Adachi was laid at the old man's feet.

"A piece of her soul has been broken," murmured Margaret. "She cannot live with only half a soul. The same is true of this guest." She gestured less sympathetically at Adachi. "Both of their souls have been wounded."

"And…can you fix them?" asked Yu, looking not at Margaret, but at the old man.

The old man frowned, rubbing thoughtfully at his alarmingly long nose. "It is…possible," he admitted after a moment. "My help may not be what you hope for. I am capable only of fulfilling the duties of my position as keeper of the Velvet Room. Anything else would be interference…and interference is beyond my power."

Yu nodded. "You told me once," he said quietly, "that it was your job to give birth to new personas."

The old man raised an eyebrow, and then smiled ever so slightly. "You are clever," he murmured. "But I must warn you that once I have performed this procedure, it will be irrevocable. No one, not even I, can undo what has already been done. Do you understand?"

_No, _thought Dojima. _I do not understand. Master of the what? Who is this guy and what is he doing to my daughter? What's all this crap about 'giving birth?'_

Yu inclined his head slightly. "I understand," he said. "Please. I'm begging you."

"Very well." The elderly man closed his eyes, and took a short, steadying breath. Then he reached both of his stubby arms up into the air. As the old man stretched out his arms, Dojima was certain that he saw something rise out of Nanako's body, and then out of Adachi's. The things looked almost like the shadows of torn, battered playing cards.

The old man moved his hands together, and the flimsy images of cards moved together as well, colliding between the old man's hands and vanishing in yet another glow of light.

"What's happening to her?" he began, but Margaret shook her head at him, holding one finger over her lip in a gesture of silence.

_I am thou, _resounded a strange voice that seemed to come from the walls themselves. _Thou art I._

Chie grabbed Yukiko's hand, and squeezed it. Naoto pressed against Kanji's shoulder, and Kanji momentarily gaped at her before returning his attention to Nanako and Adachi.

_From the sea of thy soul, _continued the voice, _I come to mend what has been broken. Thou hast forged a bond that cannot be broken, save by the dissolution of souls and destruction of the body._

From the place where the cards had been in the midst of the pool of light, a creature emerged, covered with red and black scales and staring blankly at all assembled out of one green eye, and one yellow. It had what looked like beautiful angel wings sprouting out of its back, but while one wing was made of pure white feathers, the other wing contained feathers of varying degrees of grey and black.

"It is done," whispered the old man, letting his hands fall back to his sides.

"Ow…" Gasping suddenly, Nanako sat bolt upright, holding both hands over her heart and wincing. "I…Daddy? Igor? What's…going on?"

"Nngh…" Adachi, too, was starting to struggle into a sitting position.

"Nanako-chan!" Yukiko let out a little cry of joy and rushed forward to hug Nanako tightly. Soon Chie, Rise, Yosuke and the others were all clustered around her as well, everyone talking at once and crying all over again.

"Nanako-chan! You're alive! I'm so glad!" Chie sniffled loudly, and then fumbled in her pocket for a tissue.

"You're back…we were so freakin' worried. Don't you dare pull something like that again, you hear me?" Kanji wasn't even trying to hide his tears. He grabbed Nanako hard by both shoulders, shook her once, and then dropped his hands, looking embarrassed. "Uh…sorry. Jeez…I'm just so damn glad you're okay."

Dojima couldn't find any words. There was so much relief flooding back into him all at once that for a moment he couldn't move. Then he pushed forward through the throng of people until he found Nanako, and without speaking he took her in his arms and held her against his chest, listening with growing confidence to the way that her living, active heartbeat tried to match his own.

"Daddy," she whispered. "It's okay. Dad, don't cry…"

At first, Dojima wasn't interested in anything but Nanako, as she tried to dry his tears with the sleeve of her dress, and did her best not to drown in the enthusiastic embraces of her friends. Eventually, however Nanako looked over at Adachi, and when Dojima followed her gaze he found that Adachi was now standing just in front of the creepy old man, watching the way that the red and black creature moved its mismatched wings back and forth as though drying them like a butterfly in the sun.

"His name is Azrael," Nanako told Adachi.

"Yeah." Adachi nodded, placing one hand over his heart. "Uh…I know."

**Chapter 102: Chapter One Hundred: A Solution?**

**Author's Note: **So, I wanted to post this yesterday, but I got so caught up in finishing my silly little Christmas piece that it never actually happened.

Sorry, guys. Only a few chapters left before it's actually over. Even if I couldn't have it done by Christmas day, it'll still be a fun finale, I promise.

And hey…100 chapters! That's a first for me! Huzzah!

As always, thanks for reading, and for your patience.

**Chapter One Hundred: A Solution?**

Nanako felt strange…but not necessarily bad. She was still a little dizzy, and there was definitely a hole in inside of her where there hadn't been a hole before. It didn't hurt, exactly, but she couldn't help but be aware of it at the same time. She'd lost something precious, and for a few seconds, Nanako let herself think about that.

_Tatsu-ta-hime_, she wondered. _Are you really gone? If you're a part of me, then…how can you be gone forever? I'm not gone. I'm still here. If you're me, then shouldn't you be here, too?_

She was having enough trouble making sense of the idea that she could be whole and yet empty at the same time when she started overhearing snatches of the conversation that was taking place between Yosuke and Yu. They were speaking in hushed voices, doing their best to be unobtrusive, but Nanako was a good listener. She heard them anyway.

"…thought she was done for, for a second there," Yosuke was mumbling. "That's way too many close calls for one kid. Jeez, if anyone deserves a break, it's Nanako-chan. That was…seriously scary. I'm so relieved…"

"I agree," muttered Yu. "If there was any way I could have stopped it, I'd never have let her get involved in all this." He glanced over his shoulder at Dad, who was staring dazedly up at Nanako's new persona, Azrael, keeping a few feet of distance between him and the rather impressive, dangerous looking creature.

"Yeah, but, like, what were you supposed to do?" Yosuke shrugged. "I know she's your sister, and all, but you've only got so much control. She's almost an adult, right? Well, maybe not quite an adult yet. Anyway, it's not like you had a lot of options. But hey, wasn't that the craziest, creepiest thing you've ever seen? You know, the way Adachi's persona just started ripping itself to pieces? I hate the guy's guts, but still, it was pretty ugly to have to watch that. Kinda felt like I was gonna puke at any minute."

Yu said something in response to that, but Nanako wasn't listening anymore. _What is he talking about? Did something happen to Adachi-san's persona, too?_

"Adachi-san?" she asked. "Are…are you okay?"

Adachi looked up, and there was something new and vaguely lost in his face that Nanako hadn't seen there before. He wasn't sneering, or sulking, or even laughing. He was just standing there, arms held limply at his sides, gazing almost stupidly around at Nanako and the others as though seeing them all for the first time.

"Adachi-san?" she repeated, now starting to get really worried.

"Uh…yeah. Yeah, fine," mumbled Adachi. "I'm fine. Just…feels weird, that's all."

Nanako opened her mouth to ask him what exactly felt weird, and what Yosuke and Big Bro were talking about. The words never made it out of her mouth. They didn't have to. Almost as soon as she thought the question, images of the event began flooding through Nanako's mind. She could see in her mind's eye the way that Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto had begun tearing herself to shreds, and she could feel the viciously gratifying pain that Adachi had felt as he'd destroyed himself from the inside out. It was as though she remembered it; as though it had happened not to him but to her instead.

"Why?" she whispered, biting her lip as tears came unbidden to her eyes. "Why would you do something like that?"

Not, of course, that she really needed to ask. She could feel his rage, his pain, his self-loathing and his grief all mixed together in one horrible stew of remorse. She knew exactly what it had been like to watch her die. She could see herself dying in the back of her mind, and it was extremely disconcerting.

"Sorry," mumbled Adachi. "I shoudn't've let you get in the way."

Nanako shook her head at him. "You stupid," she said, glaring. "I didn't want you to get hurt, but then you went and got hurt anyway. You're…you're so stupid!"

For a suddenly appalling moment, Nanako couldn't tell if the anger that she felt in response to Adachi's actions was her anger, his anger, or some combination of the two. She had never felt rage quite that hot before, and although she knew she was justified in being furious with him for trying to throw his life away, she wasn't used to the outflow of emotion.

"Heh," muttered Adachi. "Yeah. Uh, I know. Like I said…sorry. Don't, uh, don't be so mad. Seriously…holy crap, you look scary right now. Listen, it's gonna be okay. I'm fine. You're fine. We're all, uh…we're fine. Right?" He turned and raised a questioning eyebrow at Igor. "Right?"

Igor made a noncommittal gesture with both large hands. "That remains to be seen. Your two souls are now irreparably entwined. Imagine it, perhaps, as though you share one single soul between the two of you. Your feelings, your sensations, and the inner workings of your minds…they are no longer yours alone. They belong to you both. In some respects, you are two sides of the same entity, or two parts of the same whole."

"What the hell are you talking about?" growled Dad. "That doesn't make any sense."

Yu placed a quelling hand on his uncle's shoulder. "It was the only way," he reminded Dad. "She's alive, and that's what matters. We'll learn to make the best of anything else."

Yu looked at Nanako, and she could see the relief and the torment etched on his face. _Big Bro loves me, _she thought. _He didn't want to show Dad how scared he was, maybe, but he loves me, and he was worried, too. He was really worried._

"But how does that make any sense?" Dad didn't seem to want to be pacified. "Two souls in one body? What is all that crap? Nanako's still Nanako, right? What's this got to do with that ass Adachi?"

"And, hey…what's going to happen when Adachi goes back to prison?" added Chie in an undertone to Yukiko. "Will Nanako have to go too? No, there's just no way."

"A long term separation of many miles could be problematic," murmured Igor. "I am…uncertain what the effects of such a separation might be. The atmosphere of the prison environment might have an extremely negative effect, both on the bond that has been forged and on the mental health of both guests."

"Nanako's not going to prison." Yu was very clear about that. "That's not an option. I won't consider or allow it."

_Wait a minute, _thought Nanako. _Why would anyone go to prison? Of course I'm not going to prison. Adachi-san isn't going back to prison, either._

She saw Detective Yanase still watching Adachi warily, as though expecting him to spring or to run for it. Yanase, Nanako realized, was waiting for her opportunity to take him into custody, and Nanako got a sick feeling in her stomach. This time it didn't matter to her whether or not the feeling came from her or from Adachi.

"He's not going!" she said out loud, striding over and standing in front of Adachi with both arms crossed over her chest. "He didn't do it. We already figured out that Suzume-san killed all those people. Adachi-san had nothing to do with this. You can't take him back to prison!"

"Oh man," Yosuke rubbed uncomfortably at the back of his neck. "Look, Nanako-chan, that's not how it works Guy's guilty as hell. Sure, maybe he didn't kill anybody this time around, but he's still an escaped murderer. Besides, do you seriously think that anybody is gonna believe that supernatural stuff about Suzume, and how she did this through some kind of crazy, divine power? There's no way we're gonna convince anybody, let alone a judge and jury. No matter how you look at it, Adachi's toast."

_You hate him, _thought Nanako resentfully. For just one tiny, awful moment she hated Yosuke back, and then was surprised and upset with herself for having been able to feel that for a man whom she'd grown up with. He was her brother's best friend. He had protected and looked after her. She loved Yosuke, and she always had, and that wasn't in question. If that was all true, though, then how could she hate him so much right now?

Behind her, Adachi shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah," he muttered. "Uh, pretty sure that was me."

_Sharing a soul, _thought Nanako, _is way more complicated than it sounds. Still…_

"There has to be something we can do," she insisted. "He saved us from Suzume-san! That has to count for something, doesn't it? Can we hide him somewhere?"

"Nanako-chan, he still has to answer for his crimes." Naoto was firm, but she sounded sympathetic. "What was done cannot be undone. He deserves to complete his full sentence."

The rest of the investigation team began nodding and murmuring little affirmations. Nanako could feel her face growing hot. She knew, of course, that they were right. She knew that what Adachi had done in the past could never be forgiven, let alone pardoned.

_But what about second chances? _she wondered miserably, gazing hopefully at Yu. Yu shook his head, and turned away.

"Dude, guys." Kanji shrugged. "Uh, look, Nanako just jumped in front of Adachi's crazy-ass persona to save his life. Girl means business. Is it really worth arguing? I mean…I wouldn't mess with her, you know what I'm saying?"

Naoto looked startled, and then abruptly covered her mouth with one hand. Nanako realized that Naoto was stifling a laugh. "Kanji-kun has a point of course," she murmured.

"So, what, then? Are we just going to leave him in the Velvet Room forever?" asked Yukiko. "That…well, isn't that sort of like being in prison? Oh, no offense meant, of course," she added quickly, looking at Margaret, who didn't look offended at all.

_Yes, _realized Nanako. _Yukiko's right. We can't just leave him here. He'll be miserable. They might as well take him back, if we're going to do that._

"Where's Emmy-chan?" asked Teddie. "Is she still with Suzu-chan?"

"How can you still call her that?" Yosuke sighed. "She's a cold-blooded, creepy killer, remember? Don't make her sound so damn sweet."

The mention of Suzume, however, had given Nanako an idea. She looked over at Adachi, and saw that he'd had the idea as well, although he didn't look as confidant about it as she did. In fact, he looked terrified.

"No way," he muttered. "Wait, are you serious? There's not a chance that could happen."

Nanako, however, was no longer listening. Taking off at a run, she rushed over to where they'd left Suzume and Marie.

Suzume, still lying where she'd fallen on the floor, was slowly beginning to struggle to her feet. She was badly wounded in several places, and she had a drawn look on her face as though she was in a great deal of pain. Marie, kneeling beside her, was doing her best to help her up and to brush her off. Nanako was surprised to see Marie helping. _After all, I thought Miss Kusumi said that Suzume-san was trash._

Marie noticed Nanako watching her, and flushed. "Don't look at me like that," she muttered. "After all, you guys were the ones that said that she and I are sort of like, uh, kindred spirits, right? It's not her fault she had to be like this. All she's got inside of her is bad things. I did that…or, uh, the goddess did that, anyway."

Nanako tried not to feel badly for Suzume. Surprisingly, she had less sympathy for the girl than she'd expected to have. _Are these Adachi's feelings, again, _she wondered, _or am I just too angry to forgive her this time? I don't know._

"We won, didn't we?" asked Nanako, listening to the sounds of the rapid footfalls as the rest of the investigation team hurried up behind her. "So then…you have to stop killing people. You have to. Otherwise we'll just find you and beat you again."

Suzume gave Nanako a sort of shuddering nod. "I only wanted to make people happy," she whispered.

"Yeah…well you've got a weird way of showing it," muttered Yosuke.

Yanase spoke up for the first time in a while. "She has confessed to her crimes," Yanase reminded them. "We can arrest her. We can end this once and for all."

Dad shook his head. "Not much point," he grumbled. "We had a hard enough time making the Adachi case stick, and there was some actual, physical evidence involved in that one. This time, there's pretty much no chance of our making a case. I hate to say it, but…" He trailed off, and looked over at Yu.

Yu nodded. "We won't let her get away with this, and she will have to answer for her crimes. There will be a punishment, Detective Yanase. I swear it."

Dad shifted his weight uncomfortably, looking unhappy. "Guess we're gonna have to settle for that." Beside, him, Detective Yanase did not look satisfied at all. In fact, she looked as though she was going to object, but then took a deep breath, swallowed, and closed her eyes.

"Hey, Cho," muttered Dad. "Look, it's not that I don't wish there was something we could do."

Yanase shook her head. "I understand," she murmured. Her face had darkened considerably.

Nanako, however, was not ready to settle. "There's something else I want you to do," she told Suzume, doing her best to sound impressive and imperious. "It's part of your punishment."

Behind her, Nanako heard Adachi mumble something under his breath, but she ignored him.

"You have to make everyone forget about Adachi," she went on. "You control memories, right? That's what you said, before. You have to make all the bad memories of Adachi's crimes go away. Everyone has to forget about him, and who he is, and what he did. Then…then he won't have to go back to prison, and neither will I."

Instantly, as Nanako expected, everyone else erupted in protest.

"No freaking way!" Yosuke was livid. "Nanako-chan, do you have any idea how dangerous it would be to let that guy back out into the world?"

"That's not how it's supposed to work," agreed Yukiko. "We can't just let him get away with what he's done."

"Crimes, especially those as serious as the ones Adachi-san has committed must have appropriate repercussions," murmured Naoto. "The idea you propose, Nanako -chan, is out of the question."

"But-!" began Nanako, squaring her shoulders and preparing to fight for this as hard she possibly could.

"Um…guys." Teddie spoke up, cutting her off. "Do we really have a choice? If Adachi-baby goes back to prison, then Nana-chan…" He began to tear up in his typical, Teddie way. "I don't want Nana-chan to go away! I don't want them to lock her up!"

"No one is locking Nanako up anywhere," replied Yu quietly. "If there is another solution, then we have to take advantage of it." Everyone was now watching him, and he was watching Suzume. "Can you do it?" he asked her.

Suzume nodded. "I…I can," she said. "But…is that what you really want?" She addressed the question not to Yu, but to Marie, who was still kneeling at her elbow.

"Yeah," said Marie. "Yeah. Do what he tells you."

**Chapter 103: Chapter One Hundred and One: Purgation**

**Author's Note: **Haha, WOW. Some of you really did NOT like that last chapter.

What can I say? Honestly, I kind of like being controversial. Stories are supposed to have problems and solutions, conflicts and resolutions. They're supposed to make you think, and even to get angry sometimes. Ethical dilemmas like the one I've posed here (concerning Adachi's freedom) open up new realms of character development and create further opportunities for character growth! If everything was perfect, easy, black and white, then how would we learn anything new about our characters, or about ourslelves? Reading and writing are about growth, I think. I should grow as a writer, the characters should grow and change, and you, as the readers, should be able to find things in the story that make you think about how you, too, can grow and develop. Does that make sense?

Anyway. I'm going on and on about my artistic vision, and I'm sure what you really want is for me to shut up and let you read the rest of the story.

As always, thank you all so much for reading, for caring, and for being willing to share your opinions and feelings about the stories with me. It's a pleasure to write for people who question intelligently and think as carefully as you all clearly do.

**Chapter One Hundred and One: Purgation**

"Well?" Marie raised an eyebrow at Yu. "You heard what I said. Are you gonna do it or not?"

"Hey, Yu," muttered Chie, "look, I don't like this. It's not fair. It's…it's just kind of gross."

"What kind of a world would this become if crimes held no real punishment? There would be little incentive to behave appropriately in society," agreed Naoto unhappily. "I cannot in good conscience support the decision to pardon Adachi-san's crimes."

Yukiko was chewing on her lip. "It's more than just that," she murmured. "Wiping people's memories…that's wrong, too, in a different way. Isn't that also like a crime? We'd be changing the way people think. Um, changing someone's mind by force has to be wrong. We'd never allow anyone to do that to us, would we?"

The girls, in apparent solidarity, nodded confidently at each other, and then glanced over at Yu. Yu was watching Yosuke out of the corner of his eye, expecting an angry outburst any minute. He could see the conflicting emotions in Yosuke's face, and the way that Yosuke's whole body had tensed as he wrestled with the idea of letting his first crush's murderer go free without consequences. Yosuke, Yu knew, wouldn't be able to stomach this. He'd put up a fight.

"Look," muttered Yosuke eventually, addressing Yu. "You do what you think is right, partner. I've got your back, and I'll go along with whatever you decide. Doesn't mean I'm gonna like it, but…" He shrugged. "It is what it is."

There was a muscle twitching on the left side of Yosuke's neck as he forced himself not to lose his temper.

_Thank you, Yosuke, _thought Yu, neither for the first nor for the last time. _And…I'm sorry. I know how much this has to hurt._

"None of you are wrong," he said aloud, turning to face the whole, disconcerted group. "You all make good points, and I don't like the idea of releasing Adachi from his sentence any more than the rest of you do. Still, you heard what Igor said. Nanako can't be separated from him at this point, and Nanako being taken to prison with Adachi isn't an option. For her sake, and to keep her alive, I don't see that we have any real choice, here."

Yosuke's shoulders sagged. _Nanako and uncle Dojima are my only real family now, _Yu thought desperately, wishing that there was some way he could make his best friend understand. _I can't…no, I won't risk losing either of them. Nothing is worth that. Nothing._

"You…don't all have to go through it," murmured Suzume. "Um…anyone who remains in this world won't lose any memories."

Yu raised an eyebrow. "How will you do it?"

"I'll, um, have to use this world, and its connection with your TVs to take people's memories away," began Suzume. "I…well, I can absorb memories into myself. It doesn't have to be everything, and it won't hurt. If what you really want is for everyone to forget about this person, then all I need to do is to absorb people's memories of him. Anyone who saw his face, or heard him speak, or knew him either in person or through the news…they'll just forget."

"So, uh, what'll they remember instead?" Chie was frowning. "Are you gonna put in some weird new memory of, like, a totally different guy?"

Suzume shook her head. "No. I can't do that. I can't make new memories that don't exist. Every time someone tries to think about him, it'll just be too hard to focus. They won't be able to remember exactly what it is they're thinking about. He will become like that word that gets stuck on the tip of your tongue, or the thought you're certain you just had, but that you can't seem to quite remember now that someone's asked you to repeat it. They'll know he existed, but not who he was. If I'm careful, then everything else should remain intact. No one will recognize him anymore. Nothing else should change."

"But you," said Yu, "will remember. You say that you'll absorb the memories. That means they'll become a part of you, just like all the rest of the memories of humankind."

Suzume gave Yu a bitter sort of smile. "It's true, you know. What's done is in the past, and cannot be undone. You cannot change the past, and you can't make the past go away. Memories can't be abandoned or destroyed. I remember everything. I will always and forever remember everything."

_That must be terrible, _Yu realized, suddenly disturbed and saddened by the idea of never being allowed to forget or to let anything go. _To be haunted my whole life by everything that I have ever done…or worse, by anything that anyone I know has ever done. That would be horrible. Some things we're meant to forget. That's what helps us move on from loss and devastation. The human mind has the ability to heal, and to forget. We're luckier than she is, I guess._

"If you like," added Suzume, "I can take this memory, too. What happened here today…I can remove it from your minds. You won't have to know about it. You won't have to regret it. You will never think about it again."

"I'm not going to force any of you stay," Yu told the rest of his team. "I'm not even going to ask. If you don't think that you can deal with what's about to happen, then it might be best if you left the TV world, and went home. You won't have to know what we did, here."

Chie stared. "A-are you crazy? Are you saying that you think we should just leave and forget? But…but I don't want to forget. That would be so weird. What if you all remembered, but I didn't? It would be like there was some kind of wall between us. You wouldn't know how to talk to me about it. It would be horrible."

"Not a chance, man," muttered Yosuke.

"Yeah," agreed Kanji. "I don't like the idea of this chick messing around inside my head, anyway. Creeps me out."

"We, too, should be answerable for our crimes." Naoto was frowning at her shoes. "Just as Adachi should be answerable for his. To forget and to live without the knowledge of what we've done here would be…unforgiveable, as well."

The rest of the team began to murmur in agreement. Yu looked around into each of their faces, and saw that none of them were fully satisfied, but that all of them seemed at least to have resolved to see this through to the end.

"No one's leaving," said Yosuke. "It's like I said. Whatever you decide-!"

Dojima, who hadn't said a word for several minutes, suddenly grunted something unintelligible under his breath. Yu waited for him to speak up, but for a long time Dojima seemed to be lost in his own, unpleasant thoughts.

"I can't do it," he mumbled finally. "I won't be a part of this shit. There's nothing okay about this. Tohru Adachi killed two people. He allowed several more to be kidnapped…and those people included my daughter, unless you've all forgotten already. Nothing will ever excuse that. As far as I'm concerned, the guy should rot in a prison cell for the rest of his life. There's a reason that's the law. It's the only way that justice can ever be served. This kind of half-assed, self-serving justice makes me sick. I won't be a part of it."

"Uncle Dojima," began Yu. He could see the twisted, pained look on Adachi's face, as though Adachi couldn't decide if he was more angry or dejected in response to Dojima's announcement.

"Yu, look after Nanako," muttered Dojima. "Don't let anything happen to her. Do you understand me? Nothing is to happen to my daughter. Do what you've gotta do. I can't stop you. Maybe I wouldn't if I could, but…that doesn't make any of this all right."

With that, Dojima took a deep breath, looked one more time at Nanako, and started to walk away from them all.

"Dad!" Nanako went running after him. "Dad, don't! Please, don't leave. It'll be all right! I promise, I'll look after Adachi-san. I won't let him do anything bad! You don't have to worry about him, or me, or anyone! Everything's going to be okay, now. Trust me…please?"

Dojima shook his head. "You shouldn't have to 'look after him.' None of this has anything to do with you. You can't change him, Nanako. He's rotten inside. He's sick. When a person's that far gone, then there's nothing you can do…not with all the best intentions in the world."

"Dojima-san," murmured Naoto.

"I'm a cop," finished Dojima. "I've spent my whole life living on the idea that justice and truth still mean something. People who make good decisions thrive. People who screw up…they face the consequences. I can't live in a world without that kind of order. Doesn't make sense. I'd never pull it off. Look, I'll…I'll see you at home, later. I guess I'm sorry. Nah…maybe I'm not."

For a few moments, in which time seemed to stand still, Dojima continued to trudge back in the direction in which he'd come.

"I-I'll let you out," whispered Teddie.

The rest of the team watched in slightly stunned silence as Teddie prepared the exit, and Dojima slunk off back into the real world.

"And you?" asked Naoto, turning to Yanase. "Are you going to leave as well?"

Yanase shook her head slowly. "No," she said. "No, I think I'll stay."

"Huh? Really?" Chie sounded surprised. "Well, uh, that's cool, but…why? Why not go with Dojima-san? You guys are partners, right? Won't it be weird when you remember, and he doesn't?"

"Yes," agreed Yanase. "It will be strange. Still, if I'm going to be Dojima-san's partner, then it's my job to look out for his interests. I can't leave this place. I need to know what happened, here, so that I can help protect his family. Besides, as a member, no matter how temporary, of the Inaba police department, it is my responsibility to look out for the interests of justice." She glanced over at Adachi, and nodded. "I'll be watching you, Adachi-san. I will continue to know what you are, for Dojima-san's sake."

Adachi swallowed nervously, and Yu thought that even Nanako looked distinctly uncomfortable. _Yanase's not exactly the best detective alive, _he decided, _and she isn't really all that threatening, when you think about it. Still, there's that look in her eye. I don't think she's entirely forgiven him for what happened to her partner, even if we know who really did commit the murders. After all, if it hadn't been for Adachi's escape, Yanase and Togoshi would never have come to this town, would they?_

"If the rest of you are going to stay," announced Suzume, "then you'll need to close your eyes. It's safer that way. I don't think that any of you would be affected, even with your eyes open, but…"

"We don't want to risk it," agreed Yu. "All right, everyone. Close your eyes."

As he, too, shut his eyes against whatever it was that Suzume was about to do, Yu heard the sound of high-heeled footsteps crossing over to him.

"Nanako-chan, Adachi-san," murmured Margaret. "Please, come with me. My master would like a few more words with you."

**Shortly thereafter, in the Velvet Room…**

Adachi and Nanako stood together in front of Igor's couch, while the old man held two glimmering cards up in the air between them.

"The card of the Justice arcana, and that of the Fool arcana," intoned Igor, more to himself than to either Adachi or Nanako. "The two arcana to which your personas once belonged."

"Oh yeah? Well, I never really liked the idea of playing the fool," muttered Adachi, doing his best to make a snarky joke. His heart wasn't really in it, and even Nanako didn't manage a laugh, or even an eye-roll. She was too busy focusing on the cards.

"But now," continued Igor thoughtfully, "things have developed in an unexpected direction. A lost, wandering Fool, and a misplaced sense of self-serving Justice. Where does that leave us, hmm?"

As Adachi and Nanako watched, the two cards in Igor's hands moved together and fused, shimmering for a moment before revealing themselves again in the form of a single card. This card was slightly stained or maybe burnt around the edges, and the picture in the center of the card displayed a head that was half-skull and half-fleshed, with a horn coming out of one side, and a human ear coming out of the other. Behind the grisly head there marched a seemingly endless series of human captives, all chained together with eyes downcast.

"The card of the Purgation," sighed Igor. "An unexplored arcana lying somewhere between the Fool, and the path to Justice. Where will this new arcana take you? Only time will tell. I look forward to seeing what lies within your future." He smiled, and Adachi was sure that there was something sinister in that smile, although he couldn't place just exactly what it was about Igor's face that gave him that impression.

"That's scary," whispered Nanako. "I liked my old one better. Justice...it sounded nicer, don't you think?"

Adachi did not know what to think. He was having trouble tearing his eyes away from the long line of chained prisoners that marched along in the card's background. _Is that supposed to be us? _he wondered,_or are we the scary half-skull guy on the front? The hell does it all mean?_

Nanako must have seen the frustration in his eyes, or perhaps she just read it in his mind, because she reached out, took his hand, and squeezed it. Adachi was bemused, for a moment, that she had found it in herself to waste time comforting him, when he knew how much she was still reeling from watching her father walk out.

"It's okay," Nanako assured him. "Don't worry. We'll, um, figure it out. Yeah. Of course we will."

**Author's end note: **Okay, I think Dojima is officially my new favorite character.

**Chapter 104: Chapter One Hundred and Two: Closure**

**Chapter One Hundred and Two: Closure**

Somehow, several weeks went by before anyone seemed to realize it. Yu, Nanako, and the rest of the team repeatedly checked the midnight channel, but this time, no one's face appeared. At first, they all wondered if maybe Suzume hadn't ever gotten around to wiping people's memories. No one in town seemed bothered, affected, or damaged at all. They went through life talking, smiling, and griping just as much as they always had, and life for Yu and his friends went back to whatever bizarre semblance of normal it had been at the beginning.

It was true, however, that no one remembered Adachi. In fact, no one in town took any notice of him at all.

It wasn't long before Cho Yanase said a polite goodbye to the Dojima residence. With what she had leftover from careful saving, a loan from the bank, and the small portion that Togoshi had left her in his will, she took a very small, run-down sort of home only a few blocks down the street from where Dojima and Nanako lived. Most mornings she was up at the crack of dawn, hours before work, splattering herself and everything around her with paint as she tried her hand at home improvement. Yu and Nanako spent an afternoon one day helping her to put a little garden together in the front yard, where, for some reason, she planted one, single tomato plant.

There was a small room in her basement, complete with a bathroom. She announced to the world at large that she was renting the room to a well-paying tenant from the city for the sake of paying her bills, but the truth was that the tenant didn't pay. In reality, he wasn't really even a tenant, even if he was, in a way, from the city. He was a prisoner on a very long leash, and she was his vigilant parole officer.

On Christmas morning, Adachi woke up early. He usually woke up early these days, partly because of the noise Cho and her ladder were making upstairs, and partially because lately he didn't really sleep. When he'd finally left the Velvet Room, his insomnia had come with him, and whenever he closed his eyes all he could see were images of creepy men with long noses, or exploding red and black balls of gooey, screaming persona.

Well, no, that wasn't entirely true, either. Sometimes, he had Nanako's dreams instead. Those were sometimes very pink, and often contained images of Dojima or Yu's faces, or the face of Nanako's mother leaning over her and whispering soothing things.

There was a lot of strange, nostalgic sadness in Nanako's dreams. Adachi wasn't sure he liked those any better than his own dreams of exploding carnage.

Shaking off the unpleasant remains of his feeble attempts at sleep, Adachi mounted the stairs to find Cho stashing her paintbrush in a bucket. She had white paint all over her pants, and inexplicably on her nose.

"Morning," he muttered. "Uh…"

Cho gave him a quick, cursory look. "Good morning," she said quietly, without any warmth. "I'm going out today. Don't leave the house until I get back."

"R-right," agreed Adachi. "Obviously."

Cho nodded. "This afternoon," she continued, "we've been invited to Christmas dinner at Dojima-san's home. We're going at five o'clock."

"Yeah," Adachi mumbled. "Yeah, uh, I remember. Nanako-chan's been freaking out about Christmas all day. She's, uh, pretty excited. Can't remember getting that excited about stupid family holidays when I was a teenager. She's a strange kid…"

"I assume that she's nothing like whatever you were like as a child," murmured Cho. "She's a sweet girl. She's very caring. You two have practically nothing in common."

_Oh come on, _thought Adachi. _You're not serious, right? I mean, we share the SAME MIND. Nothing in common? Heh, whatever. You wish. I could tell you a thing or two about the slightly weirder stuff that goes on inside Nanako's head. Okay, yeah, she's a heck of a lot purer than most kids her age, but every now and then…_

"Even with you as an influence on her, she still manages to be an excellent person," Cho was saying, apparently more to herself than to Adachi. "Her father raised her well."

_Her father raised her like shit. _Adachi had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. _He was barely ever home. He doesn't even like kids. It's like the one thing he's really scared of. You have some kind of weird hero-worship complex thing going on with Dojima-san, huh? How the hell does he deserve that? Anyway, Nanako's great because she's great. Honestly, it's kind of amazing that she didn't turn out as fucked up as she could have._

"Right," he mumbled aloud. "Christmas dinner. Got it."

"Good." Cho sighed, rubbed some sleep out of her eyes, and then headed for the door. "I'll see you a little before five," she said. "We'll walk over together, of course."

_Of course, _thought Adachi resentfully. _Seriously, what's the point of all this? It's not like I can go very far, anyway. Wouldn't make it if I tried to run. Apparently that would snap some kind of thread between me and Nanako, and something bad would happen. Nobody ever said what, but…_

He remembered what it had felt like when Nanako had collapsed after having blocked his persona's assault.

_Doesn't matter what, _he realized miserably. _There's no way I'm going anywhere…_

**Shortly thereafter, at the Tatsuhime Shrine…**

Dojima walked up to the shrine to find Cho already kneeling, placing something in the offertory box.

"Merry Christmas, Juro," she whispered. "I'm still here, just like we promised. We caught the woman who did this to you. She's locked up forever, now, so you don't have to worry anymore. This horrible mess is over for good."

Dojima frowned. He was still a bit fuzzy about exactly when and how the arrest of this girl Suzume Moto had taken place. Apparently they'd already transferred her to a prison in the city, too. Cho had assured him several times that he'd been there, and that he had, in fact, been part of the party that had been responsible for her arrest, but for the life of him he couldn't remember it actually happening. When he'd admitted that to Cho, she'd laughed and explained that they'd all gone out to celebrate afterwards, and that he'd had far too much to drink. She'd driven him home in her car, and Nanako had put him to bed. That, she insisted, must have been the reason why he couldn't remember. She'd promised him that the same thing had happened to Juro Togoshi once or twice as well.

It seemed a perfectly plausible story, and Dojima believed her. After all, why wouldn't he? It was just that whenever she told the story, she had trouble meeting his eyes. There was something strange in that.

_Maybe, _he decided, _I had way more to drink than she said. Maybe I did something terrible, or embarrassing, and she doesn't want me to find out what it was. Yep. That'd be just like her._

Cho had gotten to her feet by now, and Dojima hurried over to her. "Merry Christmas, Detective."

"Oh, merry Christmas." Cho smiled at him. "Have you come to pay your respects as well?"

Dojima nodded. "Yeah. Looks like we're here on the same errand. I thought I'd come by this morning and wish a merry Christmas to an old friend of mine. Maybe you know him."

Cho's smile widened, and she gave Dojima a grateful sort of look. There were tears glistening in her eyes, he realized, and Dojima was almost sure that it was the first time he'd really seen her cry.

_She's finally letting herself grieve, _he thought. _Good. Then I guess that means it really is finally over. It's about time._

"I'll let you alone," murmured Cho. "Um, thank you for inviting us over for dinner tonight. We're both looking forward to it."

"Yeah?" Dojima grinned. "That's good. Nanako hasn't been able to shut up about it all day. I think she really likes you, and that friend of yours."

"I'm really glad to hear that." Again, even though she was still smiling, Cho didn't quite make eye contact with Dojima. "We'll see you later, then."

As Cho had strode off back into the shopping district, Dojima frowned to himself. _Guess it'll take time for her to really move past this. Wish I knew what would make her smile again. Today's Christmas. If she can't be happy on Christmas, then…hell, I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Maybe Nanako'll have some ideas. Nanako's good at that kind of thing. Yu, too. Everybody in my family but me's a people person. It figures._

"Ryotaro?" called a woman's voice from behind him, and Dojima turned away from the shrine to see Margaret, decked out in a beautiful blue winter coat approaching him from the main street. His heart did a little uncomfortable flip, and he cleared his throat and did his best to look jovial and unconcerned.

"Margaret! Uh, good morning! Merry Christmas!" She had snow in her hair, he noticed. It must have fallen off one of the trees, since it hadn't snowed in Inaba since the night before.

"Merry Christmas," she returned politely. "It's nice to see you, today. I was hoping that I might have the opportunity."

That made Dojima's heart do another flip flop, and one of those little, pleasurable shivers shot down his spine. "Y-yeah? Huh, well, uh, I was kinda hoping I'd see you, too."

He'd been absolutely elated the week before, when Margaret had appeared again out of the blue and had apologized for the way she'd treated him. She'd claimed to have been scared, and to have been unused to kinds of feelings he'd awoken in her. She'd explained that she'd been worried that becoming attached to him would interfere with her ability to get work done, and that she'd been entirely devoted to her work until very recently.

Unfortunately, according to Margaret, she'd been laid off from her job several days ago. When Dojima had asked her why, she'd given him some vague sort of excuse about how she'd broken a few too many of the company rules. He'd laughed at that. Somehow, he hadn't expected Margaret Matsumoto to be a rule breaker. She seemed so rigid and appropriate all of the time. The idea of her breaking rules was sort of appealing in a waggish way. He liked her even more for it.

"Uh, listen," he began. "It's Christmas, and so, uh, some friends and family are getting together tonight at my place. I think my nephew's making the dinner, so it's probably edible, for once, and, uh…" He trailed off, wondering if maybe, after having been reunited for only a week, this was a little too much for him to ask.

"That sounds very pleasant," murmured Margaret. "If it is not too forward of me, I think I would very much enjoy joining you for your Christmas dinner. Would you consider including me?"

"Huh? Of course! Yeah, I was just about to ask if you wanted to come." Dojima's face felt warm, and part of that warmth, he knew, came from the amused glow in Margaret's unusual golden eyes. She was on to him, he knew, and he loved that, too. He was no Casanova when it came to women, and Margaret seemed to both understand that, and to appreciate it.

"In that case," said Margaret, "perhaps I had better leave you for the time being. I will want to, ah, experiment with my hair." She said this last bit as though the idea of dressing up for a date was foreign to her, and Dojima decided that a woman as beautiful as she was probably hadn't ever needed to before. _It's because of the snow in her hair, _he thought. _She's worried it's messing it up, or something. Women…I'll never get them._

"You look amazing," he muttered, and it came out in a muffled sort of embarrassed undertone. "You, uh, you usually look amazing. Don't worry about it."

In one bold, uncharacteristic move, he reached out and closed his fingers around hers. For a second, he was surprised that he'd actually done it, and was then delighted and gratified that she made no effort to pull her hand away.

**Meanwhile, in the Velvet Room…**

"Welcome," intoned Igor, "to the Velvet Room."

Yu strode through the glowing door to find Igor, as usual, sitting on his seat and gazing impassively into the eyes of his guest. Adachi had gone, of course, and on one hand it was a relief not to have to face his dour, brooding look, or the way he had slumped dejectedly over in his little time-out misery corner.

Margaret, too, seemed to have left the Velvet Room. When Yu glanced at the place where she had used to sit, he found Suzume, fidgeting with her hands in her lap, dressed entirely in bright blue, and with her pale blond curls done up carefully on top of her head.

"Welcome," she whispered uncertainly, shooting a look at Igor. He gave her an encouraging, stoic sort of nod.

Surprisingly, Marie was there as well, seated beside Suzume. When Yu raised an eyebrow at her, she shook her head quickly.

"Um, no," muttered Marie. "No, I don't' live here, or anything. I'm not…I'm not back. I'm just visiting. You know, checking on Oboe. Hey, what? Come on, I told you not to look at me like that!"

Marie glared, and Yu carefully swallowed and hid his smile. _This is possibly the strangest friendship that ever was, _he thought. _In the end, though, I think maybe it is really good for both of them. It's all Suzume ever wanted, after all. She just wanted the goddess to notice her. I guess it worked._

Unfortunately, that got him thinking about just what methods Suzume had used, and he didn't feel too much like smiling anymore. _So much loss of life, _he thought. _If only we'd been faster…_

"I have to stay here," Suzume was saying, although whether to him or Marie he wasn't sure. "I've promised. I've promised that I'll never leave this place again. That's okay…and it's nice, here. I don't need or want anything, here. I promise I'll stay, if…if you'll come and see me, sometimes. It would make me really happy. I…"

"Yeah, sure. I mean…you know, when I have time." Marie was noncommittal, but Suzume seemed to light up at the very prospect of Marie maybe being willing to check in on her now and again.

"Is there a way in which we can assist you?" asked Igor, shooting a quick, warning look at Suzume. Instantly, Suzume was focused on Yu again, clearly embarrassed, but still flushed with pleasure from Marie's response.

"I can use skill cards now," she began. "If you want, I can show you which ones I have. Oh…or maybe you wanted this." From somewhere at her feet, Suzume dragged out the impressive looking Persona Compendium.

**Later that evening, at the Dojima residence…**

By the time the clock struck six, there were far too many people in the Dojima family living room. Nanako was somehow ecstatic and squished at the same time, as she tried to fit on to the sofa in between Adachi on one side, and Rise on the other. Rise was chatting happily at her about an idea for a new song, and the singing lessons that she wanted to sign Nanako up for in the spring. Every few seconds, Nanako could feel Adachi shifting uncomfortably against her, and she gave him a smile and a quick squeeze on the arm to try and help him get over his nerves.

_This is…really weird, _he thought. _It's, uh, it's actually a lot weirder than I thought it'd be. Seriously, I don't belong in this scene. Kinda creeping me out just how much it feels like old times._

_You'll get used to it, _Nanako thought back at him. _This is going to be fun! Dad was really excited about having you over, today!_

_Yeah,_ agreed Adachi. _That's…actually, I think that's the weirdest thing about it. It, uh, doesn't feel real…or right. You know what I'm saying?_

Unfortunately, Nanako did understand, even if she didn't want to. Ever since he'd walked in the door with Cho, Adachi had been the object of furtive, uncomfortable glances from almost everyone in the room. The rest of the group seemed to be actively keeping their distance from him while still making sure to watch him whenever they had the opportunity.

Standing over by the wall, Yosuke and Chie were engaged in one of their typically pointless arguments Chie was already starting to go red in the face, and Yosuke was rolling his eyes every time she opened her mouth, gesticulating wildly with his hands in attempt to turn logic into some kind of physical gesture that Chie would understand. As Nanako watched them, Yu strode over, said something pointed to Yosuke, and gave Chie a quick kiss on the cheek. Chie turned bright red, and as Yu walked way.

"Dude," shouted Yosuke, as Yu started to walk away. "Enough with the PDA! Like I really need to see that."

Kanji and Naoto were under the mistletoe, although Naoto didn't seem to have noticed where it was she was standing. She was talking to Yukiko, who was looking at a photo just behind her, and both women were oblivious to Kanji, who was almost shaking with frustration as he very clearly tried to decide what he was supposed to do next.

"Be a man, Tatsumi," Nanako though she heard him mutter.

In the kitchen, Nanako could hear Teddie speaking loudly. Eventually he came out of the kitchen, followed by Cho. They were both carrying several plates, and Teddie came very close to dropping all of his, since he seemed to be too busy trying to put the moves on Cho to watch where he was going. Cho managed to execute some crazy maneuver in mid air which caught the plates and effectively re-balanced them on Teddie's arm in a single confusing movement. Teddie beamed at the frustrated look on her face, and Nanako laughed aloud.

_Yes, _she thought. _Everything's back to normal, now…_

"Huh. Looks like dinner's almost ready." Dad, frowning Teddie, shook his head before turning to the rest of the assembled group. He had been over by the door, greeting Margaret, who now swept in as beautiful and elegant as ever, if a little bit pink in the cheeks from the cold. "So, uh, everybody sit down. Let's eat. Merry Christmas, everyone."

"Merry Christmas, Dojima-san!" called out several people from the back of the room.

"Merry Christmas, Daddy!" Nanako beamed at him. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this light hearted.

While people began to arrange themselves around the tiny table, Dad took a moment to approach Adachi and Nanako.

"Hey, Adachi," he said. "Glad you could make it. Nanako's talked about you nonstop ever since you moved in to Cho's basement. We're glad you're here."

"Uh...yeah? Oh, is that so?" Adachi laughed awkwardly. "Well, uh, thanks. I mean…" He fumbled, completely a loss, and ran a nervous hand quickly through his hair.

"There's something I've been meaning to ask you," continued Dojima. "This may seem strange, but hear me out. Look, I know you're out of a job right now since moving to the city. Have you ever considered working for the Inaba police department? Cho says you were a pretty big deal in Tokyo, and as far as I can tell, you're a sharp guy. We could use someone like you on the force. Think about it, okay?"

Dojima pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and, with Adachi's eyes, Nanako saw that it was an application for employment in the Inaba police department.

Adachi stared blankly at it. "Yeah," he mumbled. "Sure, I'll think about it."

Dojima, looking satisfied, returned to the table to join the others. For a few minutes, Adachi and Nanako sat on the couch together, staring with their collective eyes at the application. There was something uncomfortable that Nanako could feel in the pit of Adachi's stomach.

"I…can't do this," he muttered suddenly. "Nah, this is just too weird. Nanako, I'm sorry, but I just can't. I gotta get the hell out of this place. Feels like I'm gonna be sick any minute…"

He stood up abruptly, but Yu was already standing in front of him.

"Why don't you join us, Adachi-san?" asked Yu quietly.

Adachi shot a frantic look at Nanako, then swallowed hard, and nodded. He let Yu lead him over to a seat next to Cho at the table.

Watching everyone eat, and feeling the pit of growing panic in Adachi's heart, Nanako suddenly wasn't sure how she felt. Dad was laughing at something that Kanji had said, and seemed completely oblivious to the tensions that were hanging in the room. He looked happy, of course, but it was a kind of blissfully oblivious happy that didn't suit him. Nanako bit her lip, hard.

_No, _she realized. _It's not really perfect. It's not really just like before. I wonder if he'll ever remember? He has to remember. Otherwise…it isn't really a happy ending, and there has to be a happy ending. We've all come so far…_

**Chapter 105: Epilogue: Obsession**

**Epilogue: Obsession**

Thirty-year-old Junpei Iori sat unshaven and half-dressed in front of the television on the Midnight after Christmas day, staring dejectedly into the turned-off TV screen.

It had been about a month, now since he'd seen her face.

It had started in October, when he'd been up late after pulling the night shift at work. That night had been weirdly cold for the season, and he'd been sitting in front of the TV in his apartment, warming himself with a cup of hot tea, when the TV had suddenly turned itself on and had shown him a very clear picture of someone he'd lost a very long time ago.

He hadn't wanted to forget her. While everyone else moved on with their lives, he'd insisted on remembering. Even if it had been almost thirteen years ago, he could still hear the sound of her carefree little laugh, and he could still picture the way her eyes darkened and flashed when she got angry, or when one of her loved ones was in danger. He thought about her every time a holiday rolled around, and every time the seasons changed. He thought a lot about what might have been, and wouldn't be anymore.

He'd been angry when the rest of his team members had begun to grow out of their love for her. When they'd started getting married, getting new careers and moving away, he'd been furious with them for being so willing to get over her, after what she'd been willing to do on their behalf. They'd tried to explain to him over and over that she wouldn't have wanted him to be unhappy, and that she'd given her life in order to try and make his word a better place.

Junpei knew all that of course. He knew at his core that they were right, and that he, too, should be moving on with his life.

The trouble was that he couldn't. Every time he took another step forward, memories of her and the subsequent guilt those memories brought would drag him two steps back.

He'd had a number of relationships with women whom he'd gotten very attached to. He'd had a few friendships with local guys or coworkers. None of them lasted. He always got distracted and frustrated by them, in the end. He couldn't commit, couldn't focus long enough to let anyone make a lasting impact on his life, and in the end, the women and men alike got bored, and wandered away from him.

His most recent girlfriend had left him only two weeks ago, after he'd spent night after night sitting in front of the TV, shoveling down potato chips and waiting excitedly for the screen to show his favorite face again. His girlfriend had gotten so fed up with him that she'd stormed out one day without a word, dragging all of the stuff she'd brought with her. He hadn't called her since then. He wasn't really interested in where she'd gone.

What he really wanted to know was why the face was missing from the TV.

_I didn't imagine it, _he told himself again and again. _She was really there. I saw here. I saw her so many times. It's gotta mean something! Maybe she's calling to me. Maybe this is some kinda sign, some kinda signal to tell me that she's ready for me to come get her. But where the hell'd she go?_

Junpei waited, but nothing changed. The TV was still blank and lifeless. His stomach had begun to growl. He felt sleepy.

The night dragged on.

**Fin.**

**Chapter 106: Author's End Note**

**Author's End Note:**

There are only a couple of things that I want to say before closing the book on this one.

For one thing, we have to deal with the question of "what happened to the events of Arena?"

Since we have just learned (in the final chapter) that this story takes place in Minako's world, we can assume that the events of Arena never took place. Arena apparently happens in Minato's universe, and since Atlus has made it very clear that Minato's universe and Minako's universe are separate universes, then we have no reason to believe that Arena happened at all in Minako's universe.

I think many of us, however, are curious. What DID happen in Minako's universe? What happened to the other members of SEES after the events of her route in P3P? What did they go on to do with their lives? Did they find love? How did they deal with their grief? What happened to them?

The rest of this series proposes to provide answers to some of those questions.

Now, I'm sure that you have tons of questions and are confused by various things that have happened in the last few chapters of this story.

Good! I strongly encourage and hope that you will read the sequel, which will be entitled **The Wildest Dreams.**In that story, we'll see the repercussions of Adachi's newfound "freedom," we'll learn more about what it means for Adachi and Nanako to share a soul, and we will finally see Adachi and Nanako creating some social links together with the people in their lives.

Of course, we'll also see Junpei again, as the Investigation Team embarks on a new adventure…

But for now, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed **Dreamgirl.**

Sincerely and enthusiastically,

Ari Moriarty


	3. Part Three: Daydreams

Title: **Daydreams**  
Category: Games » Persona Series  
Author: Ari Moriarty  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T  
Genre: Friendship/Family  
Published: 07-03-13, Updated: 08-16-13  
Chapters: 10, Words: 11,996

**Chapter 1: Be Not Afraid**

**Author's Note: **Well, here we go again! This short little story is based on the characters and events of my story, **Dreamgirl**, and should probably be read alongside that story. I wrote this after being inspired by **Meia42** to improve upon my Chie characterization, so here is a little exploration of Chie's character.

This is also based somewhat on my own experience with sending a close friend off into a war zone.

I hope you enjoy!

**Be Not Afraid**

"_Be not afraid, for upon mine honor, I will stand betwixt you and danger."_

(Paulina, from "The Winter's Tale" by William Shakespeare)

"Yeah," said Chie, as she sat on Yukiko's bed in the Amagi Inn and watched her best friend packing a huge, red suitcase. "But, I still don't get why you have to go."

Yukiko sighed. "I told you, Chie," she insisted, sounding just a bit exasperated. "This is a huge privilege, a really important opportunity for me. I've been offered the chance to tour some of the most successful hotel chains in all of Japan! I've got a lot to learn about the hospitality industry if I'm going to succeed as the manager of the Amagi Inn. You said it yourself, once; it's the pride of Inaba." She gave Chie a teasing smile, but Chie just looked more miserable.

"So, I guess you probably get to stay at the hotels for free, right?" she asked. "Do you get free food, too?"

"Yes," said Yukiko. "Yes, I get lots of free food. Are you happy, now?"

Chie bit her lip. "No," she mumbled. "Not really."

Yukiko threw up her hands, and then sat down on the bed next to Chie. "What is it?" she asked. "What's wrong? Why are you making this into such a big deal?"

"I don't know," said Chie evasively. "Honestly, if this was going to be for just a few weeks, or even for a couple months, I'd feel a lot more comfortable about it, but…Yukiko, you're going to be gone for a year. A whole year! That's a really long time, okay? And…well, and we've always been together."

Yukiko nodded slowly. "Oh," she murmured, "I see. Chie, look, you don't have to worry, you won't be lonely. Yosuke will still be here, and so will Kanji, and Teddie…and even Nanako! Yu's coming back to visit next month, too. Before you know it, you'll have forgotten all about me, and then-!"

"Nope." Chie shook her head belligerently. "Not a chance. That would never happen."

Yukiko soldiered on. "What I mean is," she insisted, "that it won't be all that bad. You'll be too busy with your new job at the police station to think much about me, anyway. I'll be back before you know it. "

Yukiko went back to her packing, and Chie sat there for a long moment, her face screwed up in thought.

"Yeah," she said, after a moment's consideration. "But, Yukiko…what if you're not?"

"Hmm?" asked Yukiko. "What if I'm not what?"

"Not back," clarified Chie. "What if you don't come back?"

That got Yukiko's full attention. Turning around again, she raised an eyebrow. "Of course I'll come back," she insisted. "I have to come back. This is my home. The whole reason I'm leaving is so that I come back and make the inn more successful. I'm not planning on staying forever."

Chie didn't look as though she was feeling any better. "That's not what I meant," she said, starting to sound frustrated. "I mean, I know you're not planning to run away, or anything, it's just…you know, things can happen, in the city. I see it on the news all the time, and so do you! People get kidnapped, they get run over by cars, and sometimes they even get shot! You and I totally watched that one special on TV last week about the guy who was chased down by armed robbers just because he'd seen their faces before they robbed this one bank!" She shuddered, and Yukiko honestly couldn't be sure if it was a shiver of fear or of pleasurable excitement. Probably, she decided, a bit of both.

Yukiko frowned. "I read in the paper yesterday that a girl in Tokyo supposedly met a strange man and ran off with him. They thought she was abducted, but really they'd secretly eloped!" She sighed. "Don't worry, Chie…my life will never be that interesting. Oh, well."

But, what if it is?" Chie didn't seem to be willing to let this one go. "Like I said, we've always been together. When you go off and start your big world tour, who's going to be there to help you chase off the strange men?"

Yukiko looked surprised, and touched. "Chie," she murmured.

"I promised myself, back when you first got thrown into the TV world," Chie went on, apparently unable to stop herself now that she was on a roll. "I promised myself that I would never let anything happen to you, no matter what! That's what real friends do for each other, right? They look out for each other. That's what we've always done…what I've always done. What's going to happen if I'm not there?"

For a long moment, Yukiko didn't say anything. She kept absently folding clothes and placing them into the suitcase, as the silence stretched on between the two women, both of them lost for the time being in their own thoughts.

"Promise me you'll be okay," said Chie eventually.

"I promise," agreed Yukiko meekly. Reaching out for Chie's hand, Yukiko squeezed it reassuringly. "And I promise that I won't run off with any strange men," she added. "Not this time, anyway."

That seemed to make Chie feel just a little bit better, at least. "Well," she mumbled, "Okay. And if you need anything, you'll call me, right? Because there's definitely a train that goes from here to like, all of the cities that you'll be staying in. I mean, there are lots of trains, and I could get on one just like that, and then I'd be there as soon as you needed me. Okay?"

Yukiko smiled. "Okay."

Yukiko finished her packing, and then closed the suitcase. Chie bent over to help her force it shut.

"And promise that you won't forget to come back," whispered Chie suddenly. "It'd be awfully boring around here without you."

Yukiko shook her head. "Don't be afraid," she reassured her friend. "Chie, it doesn't matter who else I meet in the city, or anywhere else. You'll always be my white knight. You always have been! Ever since that day in the TV world…"

Chie wrinkled her nose. "Um, ew." She said.

Yukiko suddenly turned a little pink. "Wait, no!" she insisted. "No, not like that! You know what I meant…Jeez, Chie!"

**Chapter 2: Neighborhood Watch**

**Author's Note: **I'm almost done with the next chapter of M-Path, but I keep getting distracted by this…I really want to get this character right!

This is another forty-minute free-write, again inspired by **Meia42**, and a companion piece to **Dreamgirl**. Exploring Chie's characterization, again. I know, I know, I shouldn't get into the habit of writing these one-shots again, but I'll consolidate it into something else soon enough. I promise.

**Neighborhood Watch**

On that Tuesday morning, almost before the sun had finished coming up, Chie pounded on the door of Tatsumi Textiles.

"Hey, Kanji-kun!" she called out. "It's me, Chie! Are you ready?"

After a few moments had elapsed, Chie heard the sound of Kanji's feet thudding across the floor, and then he pulled the door open to reveal a terrifyingly stubbly, bleary-eyed face.

"Whuh….huh?" he asked.

"Eek!" Chie took a step back, and involuntarily shifted herself into the combat position. Kanji blinked at her, then shook his head.

"Not so damn loud," he mumbled. "You're gonna wake Ma. What the hell time is it, anyway?"

Chie shrugged, taking a deep breath and forcing herself over the initial shock she'd received at the unpleasant sight of Kanji's morning face. "How should I know?" she asked. "It's early, that's all. You know what they say, right? The early bird gets the worm!"

"Worm's got nothing to do with it," muttered Kanji, running a hand through greasy, un-showered hair. "Anyway, let's just get this over with, okay? I wanna get home before the store opens, so I can go back to bed."

Chie rolled her eyes. "Fine…come on!"

Together, more or less, they marched back out into the streets of the shopping district, and then stopped on the curb. Chie gazed around at the various shop fronts and street corners, looking for any sign of trouble or things getting out of hand.

"Hey, Chie," said Kanji.

Chie bit her lip. "What?"

"Well, uh, you know how everyone's still asleep, right now?" he insisted.

Chie nodded. "Right, yeah."

Kanji frowned. "Uh, well, if everyone's still asleep, and nobody's even out on the streets or getting breakfast or at any of the shops, or…whatever, then what exactly are we supposed to be doing? 'S not like anybody's around to be making trouble, right now. So, what are we standing here for?"

Chie took a deep breath. This wouldn't be first time that she'd explained the plan to Kanji, and unfortunately, it probably wouldn't be the last time either. "Kanji," she reminded him as sweetly and patiently as she could, "We're agreed to be the Neighborhood Watch, right?"

"Right," agreed Kanji , readily enough.

"So," continued Chie, "it's our job to keep an eye on the shops, and on the town, and to make sure nothing gets stolen or broken into or whatever. Right?"

"Uh, yeah." Kanji nodded. "Right."

Chie felt that she was getting somewhere. "Well," she went on, "I learned from my police training that criminals are the most active in the middle of the night, or very first thing in the morning, because those are the times that most of the people are asleep, get it? So nobody's there to get in the way, or to call for help. That's our job, okay? We watch, and we stay on the alert so that nobody else has to be awake to worry about it. Okay?"

Kanji nodded quickly. "Right. Okay," he said. "Yeah, uh, I guess that makes sense. That one time that Ma's place got broken into, I think it was the middle of the night." Narrowing his eyes, he slammed one first into his other palm, looking momentarily murderous. "Damn, if only I could get my hand on the punks that took our TV…"

Chie patted him reassuringly on the shoulder. "Well, maybe if we keep on the lookout, we'll catch them the next time around," she suggested.

Several long moments passed while they stood on the curb, and shielded their eyes from the rising sun as they looked for any sign of punks or difficulties. Chie could hear Kanji fidgeting restlessly beside her, although she tried to keep her mind trained on the task at hand. She knew that it was important to stay focused, especially when on a stakeout or when preparing to make a tricky arrest. The bad guys would always be trying to catch her off guard, but she had to be more than ready. She had to be unshakeable.

"Hey, Chie," said Kanji, breaking into her stoic reverie.

Chie winced. "What, Kanji?"

"Uh…you hungry?" he asked. "Because I am seriously starving. Had no breakfast. Actually, um, I just sort of got out of bed like ten minutes ago."

Chie's stomach chose that moment to make an uncomfortably treacherous rumbling noise. She closed her eyes and tried not to think about the delectable image of breakfast, and the different kinds of breakfast meats that were probably available at Souzai Daigaku, even a this hour of the morning.

"We'll get breakfast later," she assured both him and her audible stomach. "Right now, we have a job to do, okay? Now stop interrupting me! I'm trying to stay alert, remember?"

A minute or so late, Kanji tried again.

"Hey," he said again. "Uh, so, the other day, there was totally this band of tough looking thugs hanging out around the back of Souzai Daigaku."

Chie was suddenly paying much closer attention. "Was it those two guys?" she asked. "The ones who keep coming around corners and pouncing on poor school kids to take their lunch money?"

Kanji nodded sagely. "Yeah," he agreed. "Maybe. Coulda been." He scratched his neck with one finger, apparently putting some thought into this. "Anyway, whoever it is, I bet we'd scare them off if we hung out in front of the store for a bit, you know?"

Chie gave him an appraising look. "You…definitely are a pretty scary looking guy," she agreed hesitantly. "Especially at this hour of the morning."

Kanji looked hurt. "Hey," he mumbled. "Look, I just haven't shaved today, I can't help it if I'm, uh, physically mature for my age, like Ma says."

Chie wasn't thinking about Kanji's stubble, however. Instead, she was thinking very hard about delectably choice bits of juicy steak….and, of course, the back of her mind added, about those awful guys who were picking on poor, helpless kids. "Yeah, I think you're right," she told him, ignoring his injured protestations. "We definitely gotta go over there. What if those guys try to rob the store while nobody's up and looking? Souzai Daigaku might have to close down! That would be awful!"

Without waiting for a response, she took off across the street with a purposeful stride that she felt was worthy of a policeman in training.

"Hey, wait up!" called Kanji, hurrying to catch up with her. "Uh, you mind buying? I kinda left the house without my wallet…"

**Chapter 3: My Girl**

**Author's Note: **I was out at a party this evening with several friends whom I'm performing with this season. We had a good time, but over the course of the evening there was a lot of drama, a lot of drinking, and a fair amount of flirting between members of both sexes. Honestly, by the end of the evening I was exhausted, and decided to do a free-write just to help me wind down.

This is the result of that free-write. Thanks for indulging me!

This is a companion piece to my story, **Dreamgirl**, and can (should, probably) be read alongside that work.

**My Girl**

Nanako was still up at midnight as Tuesday turned inexorably into Wednesday. She was slaving away at the kitchen table, doing her best to work through a complicated set of algebra problems that had been giving her trouble for hours.

_Big Bro, _she thought, _wouldn't have any trouble with stuff like this. He was always good at school, and he got the highest grades in his class twice while he was staying with us! He even got good grades in college! He wouldn't give up, and neither will I._

She'd been letting those same thoughts repeat themselves over and over in her head since she'd first discovered that the answers weren't going to come easily, and by now, even thinking about her beloved cousin wasn't quite carrying her through the evening. She yawned, stretched, blinked, and then glanced miserably over at the clock.

"I'll never get it," she murmured to herself. "Why does math have to be so hard?"

Still, unwilling to give in and accept defeat, Nanako forced herself to keep working. She was caught between a daydream and a mathematical solution when she heard the front door open, and looked up to see Dad finally dragging himself inside, still wet from the rain that Nanako could hear pounding against the window.

"Hey," muttered Dad, shaking his head and draping his soaking coat over the back of a chair. "Sorry I'm so late."

Nanako jumped to her feet. "Welcome home!" She hurried over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. She was tall enough now that jus standing on her tiptoes was sufficient. Dad didn't even have to bend over for her to reach him anymore. He smiled as she kissed him.

"Were you waiting up for me?" he asked, looking guiltily at the clock. "It's midnight, Nanako…you have school tomorrow. You should have been asleep a long time ago."

Nanako shook her head, gesturing at the textbook on the table. "I have homework," she told him, giving the textbook a distasteful grimace. "It's awful…I can't figure it out at all."

Dad wandered over and took a cursory look at the book. "Ah, math," he said, nodding. "You want some help? I used to be pretty good at this stuff."

_Yes, _thought Nanako desperately. _Yes, please help me! I'm desperate!_

She opened her mouth to tell him that she needed all the help that she could get, but stopped herself as she watched water droplets flicking off of Dad's scalp when he ran his hand through his graying hair. He looked tired. He always looked tired, of course, but there was something different about tonight. It was more, Nanako realized, than just exhaustion. Dad was sad, too, or maybe just frustrated. Whatever it was, something had gotten to him at work, and there was a distracted, faraway expression in his eyes.

"It's okay," she assured him, stifling another yawn. "I can do it. Don't worry."

Nanako forced herself back over to the table, and hunkered down again in front of her studies. For some reason, Dad laughed.

"That's my girl," he told her, yawning mid-sentence, which frankly didn't help Nanako at all. "You show those math problems what you're made of, Nanako."

She expected Dad to head off to bed, but instead he went into the kitchen and began brewing a pot of coffee.

"What kept you?" she asked him, honestly looking for any distraction to keep her away from the dreaded algebra.

"Some kids were having a crazy party across town," replied Dad. "It got too loud and out of control, so the neighbors called us in to come and try and get the volume down."

"Oh." Nanako frowned. "Sounds boring…"

For a moment, Dad didn't say anything. As the silence stretched uncomfortably on, Nanako glanced up to find her father staring at her, biting his lip and nodding to himself.

"When we got there," he said finally, "the party was already almost over. Wasn't really much left to do except to make sure that everybody got a ride home from somebody who wasn't too trashed to drive. It got messy, and one of those teenage punks even threw a punch at the rookie, but eventually we got it all sorted out."

"Oh." Nanako returned her attention to her math problems, which were now starting to swim around in front of her in a sleep-deprivation induced haze. She glared at them. They stared back at her, undaunted.

"We weren't really in time, though," Dad was saying. "By the time we got to the party, some of the kids had already left. I guess maybe some of them drove themselves home when they heard that the neighbors were calling the police."

That got Nanako's attention. "But, I thought you said that they'd been drinking," she reminded him. "That's…that's not very safe, is it?"

"No." Dad sighed. "No, it's not very safe."

He poured the coffee into two cups, and brought it over to the table. Nanako was in the process of reaching for one of them when he suddenly picked it up again, and returned it to the counter.

"Dad?" she asked, puzzled.

Dad shook his head. "Forget the coffee," he muttered. "It's late, Nanako. Go get some sleep. A girl your age needs her sleep."

"But," insisted Nanako, "my math homework…I'm not finished."

"You can do it in the morning," said Dad. "I'll get you up early, so you can work on it before school. Right now, just…just rest. You're barely awake as it is. If you push yourself too hard, you're just gonna make yourself sick."

_You're not really one to talk, _thought Nanako, suppressing a little smile as she shut the book and headed for the stairwell. _You push yourself and make yourself sick all the time._

"Okay," she said. "Goodnight, Dad."

"Night," mumbled Dad. Walking over, he took her gently by the shoulders, and kissed her on the top of the head. "You're a good kid, you know that? The rest of it's not really important."

As Nanako lay in bed a few minutes later, she stared up at the ceiling and listened to the sounds of Dad puttering around in the kitchen downstairs.

_The rest of what?_ she wondered, unsure what exactly her father had been talking about. She didn't have too long to wonder, however. Before her mind could really get a hold on the question, sleep overtook her, and she drifted off in relief.

**Chapter 4: December**

**Author's Note: **Taking a brief break from working on my lines to do a freewrite. This one's about Adachi (I know, you're shocked) during the in-game moment on December 3, right after Yu and the investigation team leave the hospital to look for Teddie.

This is a companion piece to **Dreamgirl**, and will hopefully help to flesh out character motivations in that story, a bit.

**December**

Outside, it had begun to snow, but inside Inaba Municipal Hospital, Tohru Adachi was sweating like crazy. He watched through the window of an unoccupied hospital room as Yu and his friends wandered back off into the fog, presumably heading for home. Then he sat down on the floor, leaned back against the wall, and closed his eyes.

"Holy crap," he mumbled. For some reason, he could feel his fingers shaking as he reached up to wipe the sweat off of his forehead.

The last hour or so had been an awful kind of crazy, heart-pounding blur. First Nanako had started getting sicker really fast, and nobody seemed to be able to figure out why. Then those kids had shown up, and Dojima had gone after Namatame. As soon as Adachi had managed to get him back into his damn room, the kids had started in where Dojima had left off and Adachi had found them crowded around a panicky, incoherent Namatame huddled on the floor.

It was all over now, of course. Dojima was sleeping, by some divine mercy, and the kids had finally left. Even Nanako…

_Nanako-chan, _though Adachi miserably. _Damn, this wasn't supposed to fucking happen! She's just a little kid, she wasn't supposed to get hurt! What the hell did she ever do to deserve this?_

Adachi had left the room while the others had gathered around Nanako's bed to try and comfort her. As soon as he'd seen the look on the doctor's face, he'd started feeling sick and disgusted. There wasn't any sense in it, of course. After all, Adachi had known days before Nanako had disappeared that she'd be the next kidnapping victim. He'd sat on his hands and chewed his lip, trying to figure out some safe way that he could squeeze out of this mess while Nanako had been thrown into the TV and almost killed by whatever those things were that lived inside it. Then, when they'd brought her back alive, he'd let that make him feel good. After all, there was no real harm done, right? Nanako was gonna be fine, everybody suspected Namatame, and the case was about to be closed, for good. The game would be over, and Adachi would have won. Why waste time whining about things that could have happened. Nanako was back, wasn't she? There wasn't anything for Adachi to feel guilty about. Nobody suspected him, and he was still on top.

There was, though, still the problem of those kids. They were getting way closer to the truth than he'd ever expected them to, and now they'd had some kind of weird chat with Namatame. Sure, he'd probably just mumbled at them about shit that didn't make sense, the way he'd been doing all along to everybody else, but still…the idea that Namatame might convince them of his innocence sent little chills of fear rocketing down Adachi's spine.

There was enough doubt in regards to Namatame already. After all, the police were sure having a hard time believing the stuff about throwing people into the TV. On one hand, that was good for Adachi, because if Namatame's methods were unbelievable, then so were Adachi's own. If the police dismissed the Namatame case, however that would mean they'd have to start all over from the beginning, and Adachi would find himself yet again, running around like a dumbass and talking himself in circles just to keep his neck out of the noose. He was exhausted, and had started to get scared. Just one slip up, and they'd have him. Those kids were already on the right track, and that was bad news, no matter how he looked at it.

_I gotta do something, _he thought restlessly, watching the snow turn into slush against the foggy windowpane. _Get it together, Adachi. It's action time. I gotta make sure there's no doubt that Namatame's the real killer. Just convince the cops, and I'm out of the woods. Simple, right? After all, you know it's what they really want to believe._

Namatame, he knew, was probably sleeping now in his own room. The guard, if Adachi knew him well enough, was probably passed out too, since that guy didn't seem to be able to keep his eyes open on duty for longer than ten minutes at a stretch. Adachi would probably be able to slip in and out without the guard noticing at all, he realized. The only question was, how best to tackle the problem?

_They need a confession, right? _he asked himself. _Not just for the kidnappings, but for the two murders, too. Still, though, if I write out a confession, there's gonna be some doubt that Namatame's not in his right mind. I gotta get him out of the picture. Maybe I can get rid of the guard for long enough to put the guy out of his misery, then make it look like he killed himself. I don't know, I guess I could hang up over a chair, or something, and then leave the confession lying around. That'll make it look like he felt so guilty about what he'd done that he took himself out of the game. That'd convince anybody, right? Even Dojima-san!_

For a split second, Adachi was slightly horrified that he'd even come up with an idea like that. Once upon a time, killing people had been something that the bad guys did, or something that cops only did in action movies when the going got too tough to play nice. Now, though…now it was part of the real world and of everyday life, and that frightened and exhilarated Adachi at one and the same time.

_What the hell am I turning into? _he asked himself. _Not that it isn't too late to be asking myself that shit…_

But the confession wouldn't, Adachi realized, convince Dojima-san at all. Now that Nanako was alive, Dojima would find a way to be reasonable again. He'd want the truth, not elaborate suicide scenes that might have been staged. Adachi had worked with Dojima long enough to know how his mind worked and it worked primarily on caffeine, rationale, and the cold hard facts. It worked exactly the opposite of the way that Adachi needed it to work right now.

"Damn," he muttered, sighing in frustration.

_He almost killed Nanako-chan, _thought Adachi. _I gave him a chance to be a savior, a chance to live out that weirdo Messiah complex of his, and this is how he pays me back? He goes and tries to fucking "save" my partner's kid? What the hell is that? I made him! I…jeez. Dunno if I can forgive the shit he's pulled. That poor kid…_

He stopped in the midst of his irate reflections, and bit his lip.

_Nah, _he told himself. _That's the point, huh? That's just it. I'm the one that almost got her killed. I had the power, and I gave it to him. I stood back and watched while he took control of the game. That's not the way it was supposed to work. That's no fun. If I let somebody else call the shots, then it's my own damn fault if everything goes to hell. I should never have given him that whole "savior" idea in the first place. This was my party – he shouldn't have been invited._

Nodding to himself, invigorated by that realization, Adachi stood up. For the first time since Nanako's collapse, he finally felt like things were starting to solidify and take shape again inside his tortured mind. The world was beginning to make sense, again.

_It's too late to go back now, _he realized. _I can't let this get any more out of control. Not if I'm gonna stay alive._

Briefly, he contemplated going to Namatame's room and seeing just how receptive the guard on duty might be to stepping out for a cup of coffee. In the end, though, he thought better of it. Instead, he headed off to check on Dojima-san, to talk to the nurses and to feed the few remnants of humanity that were struggling to make themselves heard inside his stifled soul.

_If you want something done right, _said the monster in him, _then you really gotta do it yourself…_

**Chapter 5: Somewhere**

**Author's Note: **So many of my favorite readers have been asking me lately to write Kanji x Naoto. I don't actually ship Kanji x Naoto, but I hate disappointing people, so I gave it a try. Uh…this might not be very good. Sorry. It's the thought that counts, right? Right?

This is the product of a forty minute freewrite, because I wasn't sure how much longer I could risk torturing you with a story about a couple that I have no experiencing writing about.

This takes place during the timeline of **Dreamgirl**, although honestly I figure you already know that by now.

**Somewhere**

"Hey, Naoto!" called Kanji, waving at her across the Junes food court. "Whatcha up to? Having lunch?"

Naoto looked up from her untouched plate of the local specialty, aware suddenly that she'd been zoning out and staring off into space for the past few minutes. Shaking her head to try and clear it, she gave Kanji a tired little smile. "Kanji-kun. Please, join me."

"Sure, thanks." He flopped down in the chair across from her, and gave the steak a dubious look. "What, not hungry? You know, you should eat a little more. You work too hard. You're gonna start losing weight."

"I'm hardly worried about my weight," sighed Naoto. "That is not something with which any reasonably competent detective should waste time concerning herself."

"Right, yeah," agreed Kanji. "Well…it's not like you got anything to worry about, anyway. I mean, you look great."

Surprised, Naoto raised an eyebrow at Kanji, and Kanji immediately turned slightly pink around the ears. "I mean, y-you always look great! Why wouldn't you look great?" he stammered helplessly. "Uh…wait, that's not what I meant. I just meant that, uh…" Suddenly, he shoved the plate of steak forward across the table until it bumped against Naoto's resting elbow. "You gotta eat, or else you'll get sick. Health's important, right? So, uh. Here. Eat your lunch, damnit."

Naoto, somewhat alarmed by the intensity of his insistence, dutifully picked up her fork, propelling a bit of steak into her mouth. Kanji looked pleased with himself.

"You're not working today, Kanj-kun?" asked Naoto. "I thought you'd be at the textile shop. From what I've seen, it looks as though Tatsumi Textiles has been receiving an almost unprecedented amount of business over the past few days."

"Oh, yeah, that," mumbled Kanji. "It's nothing, really…uh, seems like lots of people saw the dress I made for Chie-senpai at the wedding, or in pictures and stuff, and now they're all showing up at the shop asking for Western-style fancy dress orders and lacey things. Problem is, stuff like that takes a long time to make, so I can't do too many. We've got a waiting list. It's pretty damn crazy."

Naoto smiled. "It was a beautiful dress," she agreed, nodding. "You truly outdid yourself. Magnificent work. The sudden influx of attention is only to be subsequently expected."

"Yeah? You think so?" Kanji's face lit up as though the sun had suddenly risen behind his eyes. "That's nice to hear. Uh, thanks. You know, if you ever wanted me to make something for you…all you'd have to do is ask. You know that, right?"

"You've said so before," murmured Naoto. "Thank you. However, I don't feel that I'll be needing any fancy dress clothing for some time to come. Wedding dresses are…entirely out of the question." Now it was Naoto's turn to flush slightly, although she did her best to hide it.

"You're not seeing anybody, then?" asked Kanji suddenly, and a bit more loudly than perhaps he'd intended. Startled, Naoto opened her mouth, closed it, took a deep breath, and then tried again.

"I hardly have time for such things," she informed him. "I'm…far too busy, of course."

Was it her imagination, she wondered, or did Kanji look almost relieved?

"Me neither," he said. "I mean…I'm working hard, too. No time for dating and crap like that. So, uh, I'm single. Have been for a while. Sucks, sometimes, watching everybody else go out, like Chie-senpai and Yu-senpai. Feels like maybe they're gonna leave me behind unless I find somebody soon. You know what I mean?"

Unfortunately, Naoto knew exactly what he meant. At twenty five years old, she'd still never had a boyfriend, which usually didn't bother her at all. It was, after all, her choice that she'd remained out of the dating pool, and had devoted herself entirely and enthusiastically to her work instead. However, as Kanji so effectively described, there were moments when she felt that she was perhaps the last woman on earth without a partner, and it worried her that she might be left alone after everyone else had been chosen and paired off.

"After we've solved the re-emergence of the TV world," she said, perhaps more to herself than to Kanji, "I'll go back to the city and continue my work on some of the investigations that I've been in the midst of. Perhaps once I've completed those investigations, there will be some time to think about…other aspects of my life. Of course, once one case is closed, other cases do seem to develop so quickly that-!"

"You can stay here," interrupted Kanji, staring fiercely down at the tabletop.

Naoto paused, mid-thought, and blinked at him. "Um…what?" she asked.

"You…don't have to go back to the city." Kanji was very, very red now, and speaking slowly, as though forcing the words out against their own will. "You can stay here. With us. In Inaba. For…forever, if you want. I mean, it's not like anybody's gonna argue, right? It's kinda sucked, not having you around. We're all lonely as hell without you. Get it? We, uh…we want you to stay."

Naoto wasn't entirely sure what to say. For a long moment, they sat together, both of them staring at anything but each other, as the seconds ticked inexorably by.

"Kanji," she said quietly, after what felt like the longest moment in history, "I….I have to go back. There are things I need to do, things I need to finish. There are people searching for the truth, who need my help. You do understand that…correct?"

Kanji sighed miserably. "Yeah," he mumbled. "I get it. Sorry. I shouldn't have said nothing."

Impulsively, Naoto reached out, and closed her hand over Kanji's. He jerked his head up as though he'd been shocked with a bolt of his own lightning, and then stared down blankly at Naoto's hand.

"I'm glad you said something," she told him, uncertain of what else there was to say, but forcing herself to attempt it anyway. "It…it is comforting to know that I have somewhere to come home to. You…and the others, of course, will always be that 'somewhere.' It is…not a feeling to which I am accustomed."

"Somewhere, huh?" asked Kanji slowly. "'S better than 'nowhere,' I guess."

"Yes," agreed Naoto, nodding. "Yes, exactly."

**Chapter 6: A Strong Prince**

**Author's Note: **So, today might be a day for freewrites. I think I'm going to play a little bit with pairings and with crushes. This one's actually my favorite Kanji pairing, although I've never really written it before.

**A Strong Prince**

"Excuse me," murmured Yukiko, pushing open the door of Tatsumi Textiles. Kanji was standing behind the counter, with two pins sticking out of one corner of his mouth, surrounded by fabric swatches. He looked frustrated and busy. Yukiko considered coming back later.

"Huh? Oh, hey, Yukiko-san!" Just as Yukiko was about to step outside again, Kanji glanced up and saw her. "Sorry, didn't hear the door. Uh, what's up?"

"It's fine," said Yukiko. "Actually, I've just come to pick up the new tablecloths we ordered. If it's too much trouble, I can come back later."

Kanji spat the pins out into his hand, and deposited them on the counter. He disappeared for a moment below the counter, then reappeared with his arms full of red cloth and lace. "Nope, no worries," he said, grinning. "Got 'em right here. That's, uh, four tablecloths, right? Oh, and I made you some napkins, too. And, um, a headband, cause there was extra fabric and I didn't know what to do with it. Not like you have to wear it, though."

He handed the bundle across to Yukiko, who took it carefully, her eyes widening in surprise. "Napkins?" she asked. "Thank you, but…we didn't pay for anything other than the tablecloth. I don't have very much extra money on me…I'll have to go back to the Inn to get it. How much are you asking for them?"

For a moment, Kanji looked puzzled. "Extra money? You kidding? I just made 'em cause I thought they'd look nice with the tablecloth, that's all. You don't gotta pay me for it. It's a present, I guess. The headband too, obviously."

"That's too kind," murmured Yukiko. "I'm not entirely sure what to say."

Kanji shrugged. "'It's nothing," he mumbled. "I had fun making 'em. Looks like I've got a talent for lace, or something."

Extracting the headband from the midst of the pile of fabric cloths and napkins, Yukiko slipped it carefully over her ears and pulled her hair through. It felt cool and smooth against her forehead, although some of the lace tickled a bit.

"Looks good," remarked Kanji, nodding approvingly and looking proud of himself. "Yeah, definitely goes well with that, uh…whatever you're wearing, anyway. Cool, maybe I can make a whole line of 'em. I gotta remember to show Mom…"

"A whole line?" asked Yukiko. As far as she could tell, Tatsumi Textiles was currently making so many new products that there wouldn't really be room, even for a shelf full of little headbands. Ever since Kanji had taken over the management of the shop, new products and styles had been popping up on a weekly basis, and sometimes there were lines all the way out the door, especially around holiday season when everyone wanted something new to wear or to give to a friend or loved one.

"Business seems to be doing very well," remarked Yukiko, almost more to herself than to Kanji.

He shrugged. "Guess so," he agreed. "Hey, it's all thanks to you guys, though. It's pretty cool that you and the waitresses are all wearing those new kimonos that we made for ya. I get people coming in here all the time asking about 'em. They take forever to make, so I can't really do 'em on commission, or nothing, but it sure gets people excited when they see 'em."

"Glad we could help," said Yukiko, nodding. She paused for a moment, frowning, while Kanji returned to whatever it was he'd been doing with the pins before her arrival. Then, somewhat hesitantly, she asked, "Kanji-kun…do you ever wonder what would have happened if you'd left Inaba, all those years ago? I mean, if you'd never taken over the textile shop?"

"Hmm?" Kanji, who now had four pins in his mouth, took a second to take them carefully back out again. "Uh, no, I don't. Why would I?"

"Oh, no reason," mumbled Yukiko. "I just…I just wondered, that's all."

Kanji straightened a blousey sort of shirt that was hanging a bit lopsidedly on its mannequin. "I like it here," he went on. "I mean…where the hell else would I go? Mom's here, and senpai, and the others…oh, and you, too. I mean…you and I've been here since like, uh, forever, I guess. Guess I never really thought much about doing anything else. Worked out pretty well for me, too, so it's not like I've got shit to complain about."

_I never had anything to really complain about either, _thought Yukiko. _I've been surrounded by friends and loved ones all my life, just like Kanji says…but that doesn't change the fact that I spent so long thinking about leaving. Sometimes, I still wonder what would have happened if I'd followed my first instinct and gone to work in the city when I had the chance. I love it here. I love the people I'm with and the places I go, but…I'm not sure things wouldn't have been wonderful another way. Maybe that's just who I am. Maybe I'm fickle inside, after all._

"You're a strong man, Kanji," murmured Yukiko thoughtfully.

Kanji's head jerked up from his work, and he stared at her "I'm a what?" he asked.

"You're strong," repeated Yukiko. "You're strong, and you're secure…you know what you want, and you're happy doing it. You don't worry and wonder about whether or not you're making the right decision. You're…you're like a rock." She smiled, thinking of Kanji's forceful stance in battle, and the way he could fend off almost any physical attack. "Yes, you're our rock, I think. I like that about you. I'm very glad that you're happy here. It's nice to hear."

Kanji scratched his head with one finger. "Uh, well…jeez, don't think anyone's ever put it that way, before," he muttered. "But, uh, thanks. Yeah."

Yukiko collected her things, and prepared to leave the store. Just as she was pushing the door open again, however, she heard Kanji call out to her.

"Hey, you're happy here too, right?" he asked.

Yukiko nodded, slowly. "Yes," she said. "Yes…I think so. After all, this is where we grew up together. Where else would I want to go?"

**Chapter 7: The Good Old Days**

**Author's Note: **So, Dojima's been seeing Chisato on the midnight channel a lot, lately. Is that all? This little storylet takes place a few days before the beginning of **Dreamgirl**, so I guess you could call it a prequel free-write.

If you've started to figure out for yourself what's going on in the newly-awakened TV World in **Dreamgirl**, then you'll understand why this is significant. If you're still uncertain, that's okay, I'll give you guys some more to chew on in my next update!

**The Good Old Days**

Ryotaro Dojima sat up in his bedroom, sprawled out on the bed in his pajamas, vaguely contemplating the idea of deliberately drinking himself to death. It had been that kind of a day.

Glancing around at the various empty bottles strewn across the floor, he realized that he'd already made a pretty good start. _I don't think I drank all of this tonight_, he reasoned with himself. _Because if I had, I probably would be dead already. I really have to clean this place up. There's trash and empty bottles lying around that've probably been here for days…I hope. Seriously, I didn't actually drink all of this just now, right? I can still see both my hands in front of my face. So far, so good. Ugh my head, though…_

His head was killing him. He had a double barreled migraine that was pounding full force against both sides of his skull, and he couldn't even remember if that a was reaction to the alcohol he wasn't sure he'd had to drink, or to the horrible downward spiral that this shitty week was turning into more and more by the day.

"Not that it matters, anyway," he muttered to himself, shaking his head to clear it, which only made the headache worse. "A few weeks from now, I'm gonna be out of a job…and then I can be as damn useless as I want. I can be fucking drunk all the time, and nobody's gonna even give a shit. Not even me."

As if to toast to that decision, he took a swig of his beer. He was holding the beer, which gave him to understand that he was probably drinking it at the moment, and that realization was comforting, because it was, at least, a piece of concrete information that he hadn't had minutes before, or at least hadn't been able to remember.

"Some people," he continued, talking to himself or to the blank, emotionless TV set staring him down from across the bed, "some people retire with honor. They go out like heroes! The chief throws them a damn party and gives a big speech and…and stuff. That's how it should've been for me. I'm a damn…hero, aren't I? Without me, the hell would we have ever solved those murders? Wouldn't have happened, no way…not without me. Not a chance."

It wasn't as though he hadn't been aware that the decision was coming. For years, the other guys at the station had been muttering behind his back about how he was too much of a hardass, how he was old fashioned and stuck in his ways, and how he worked everybody too hard, including himself. As far as Dojima was concerned, working too hard was a good thing. _No, _he corrected himself, _there's no such thing as working too hard. You work until the job's done, until it's done well That's what my senpai told me, and it's still true, even if these young worthless sacks of shit who call themselves cops don't understand._

The worst part about it was probably Takahashi's attitude. Dojima's new young partner, pretty fresh out of the academy, always did everything by the book. Every single move he made was according to regulation, and nothing seemed to stir him up, even a little bit. He was punctual, he was accurate, and he was completely disinterested in the actual gritty truths of what detective work really was. _He's not really a cop_, thought Dojima. _He's a suit. He's just some kid in a suit following orders. He doesn't think for himself…he's got no imagination. And that's the guy who's gonna take over my job? When I go, he's the one they're gonna leave in charge of my cases? Crap, I hate to think of what's gonna happen to the work I've been doing. He's gonna fall on his face, and it'd be funny if it wasn't so fucking tragic._

The clock next to the bed began beeping, attempting to inform Dojima that it was now midnight. He glared defiantly at it through an alcoholic haze, and downed the rest of his bottle of beer. "Fuck you," he told the clock. "I'm a grown man…can stay up as late as I want. 'S not like going in early to work tomorrow's gonna impress anybody. I got nobody left to impress."

He was only vaguely aware that something strange was happening to the TV screen. It was flickering and crackling, apparently having turned itself on, and Dojima reached around under him for a moment, trying to find the remote that he decided he must have sat on. The remote, however, was nowhere to be found, and there was no w a shadowy image appearing on the screen. The image was more of an outline than a picture, indistinct and fuzzy, and Dojima had to squint and scoot a little bit closer to the edge of the bed to try and figure out what the hell he was supposed to be looking at.

Abruptly, the angle of the silhouette changed, and it seemed to get larger and closer to him. "What the…?" mumbled Dojima, alarmed. Now that he could see it a bit more clearly, he recognized that messy haircut and the outline of that face. He'd have recognized it anywhere, drunk off his ass or stone-cold sober. It was a face that he still saw in his nightmares, and in the book of old family photos that he only took out when he was sure that Nanako wasn't around to catch him.

"Adachi," he snarled at the image on the screen. "Just when I thought this day couldn't get any worse…"

Adachi had been another of those obnoxious rookies, he reflected. He'd been another one of those useless kids who'd figured that he deserved everything just for showing up, and that putting in the extra effort was n ever worth the time.

_But no, _he reminded himself slowly, _nah, that can't be right. Kid had that creative spark, and he was smart…he was a smartass, yeah, but he was smart enough to pull one over on me, and on the whole damn force. I mean…in the end, he was an artist. I hate the guy's guts, always will, but…there was this way, I gotta admit, that he really put his mind to work. None of the new guys ever do that. He put more of himself into being the bad guy than most of the new kids bother to put into catching the criminals. The world's all fucked up…nothing's the right side up anymore. That bastard knew what it meant to give it three hundred percent, even if he made fun of it the whole time he was doing it. Damn, I wish we still had guys like him around. I mean…not guys like him. But guys…guys who could think and really feel the way he did. Guys who had the drive. Yeah. The drive. That's what we're missing now. The drive to succeed, whatever the damn reason._

Adachi's face loomed suddenly closer again, and on a whim, Dojima pried open another bottle, and raised it, nodding at Adachi's silhouette. "To the good old days, then," he mumbled, taking another long swig. "To the days of the real detectives, you piece of shit."

Adachi, of course, didn't say anything. _Probably a good thing, _thought Dojima blearily. _If he opened his damn mouth I'd probably just wanna hit him in it._

With a final crackle and fuzz, the image disappeared from the screen, and Dojima was again alone in the room.

His head was now fuzzier than even the image on the TV had been, and he no longer felt too much like drinking. A lot of the fight had gone out of him during that last bottle, and now all Dojima wanted to do was to curl up in the bed and pass out into merciful unconsciousness.

Glancing at the clock again, he saw that it was five minutes after midnight.

"Okay," he told the clock, letting out a long breath. "'S time for bed, now."

**Chapter 8: Unconditional**

**Author's Note: **Here's a freewrite that was inspired by a comment made by **JustCharles.** To paraphrase, **JustCharles** suggested that "The Yosuke from **Dreamgirl** should beat up the Yosuke from**Messiah.**"

Well, I won't exactly have them beat up on each other, but here's a little something that's similar enough to print.

This little storylet takes place directly after Chapter Forty Two of **Dreamgirl**.

PS: Yes, I admit freely that I am recycling titles. I am not ashamed.

**Unconditional**

Yosuke had, of course, meant everything he'd said to Yu that day in the food court. He'd been totally serious and sincere about putting aside his feelings about Adachi, and working towards Yu's goals for the greater good.

He was, however, only human. It hurt, even if he knew it shouldn't, and wished it wouldn't. Maybe those feelings had no place in this investigation, and maybe they'd only serve to make everyone, especially his partner feel worse, but they were still there, nonetheless. Trying to choke them down and hide them was making Yosuke nauseous and distracted.

He wasn't sure exactly why he did it. Maybe he just needed to let off a little bit of that pent-up steam. Instead of going straight back out to Yu as soon as his break started, he stepped into the big Junes TV and passed into the world on the other side.

Illogically, he wandered around for a few minutes, unwilling to stray too far from the entrance on his own. His first thought had been that he should go to the shopping district that Saki's mind had created, but in the end, he gave up on that idea. It was more than likely that he'd encounter shadows there, and though he could probably use both the exercise and the adrenaline rush, he'd been in enough battles to know that taking on more than shadow by himself was a recipe for disaster.

_Come on, man, _he told himself. _Pull yourself together. Suck it up. I promised my partner that this wasn't gonna be a problem._

Suddenly, Yosuke's persona materialized in front of him, and he clapped a hand to his chest, startled and certain that he hadn't summoned it, whether consciously or unconsciously. As he watched, Takehaya Susano-o slowly shrank and deformed, turning again into the familiar image of Yosuke's Other Self.

"Jeez," muttered Other Yosuke. "Isn't that just like you? Putting everybody else first, making sure that everyone knows just how reliable you really are. You know, you're not fooling anybody. You're not even fooling your precious partner. Everybody knows just how sick even thinking about Adachi makes you inside. You'd be better off just being honest with them and yourself.

"No way," insisted Yosuke, shaking his head. "Like that would accomplish anything? Look, nobody says I have to like the guy. Nobody says I have to get along with him. That's…that's never going to happen. But this isn't' about me. This isn't about my vendetta. We're trying to save the world, here."

"Ooh," retorted Other Yosuke sarcastically. "Look at you, being all noble and playing the hero! Hey, let me let you in on a little secret, okay? Those feelings you're pretending don't exist? They don't go away if you ignore them. Just because you don't need them right now doesn't mean they're going to disappear. I'm just going to fester in here, feeling more and more miserable, more and more like I've got a cross to bear, until one day, you can't take it anymore, and we both do something crazy. Actually, I'm kind of looking forward to it. It's been a long time since we promised ourselves vengeance on that piece of shit. We deserve to get it, too. We owe it to ourselves."

"I told you," insisted Yosuke. "This has nothing to do with me or with what I want. This is about being there for my friend."

Other Yosuke rolled his eyes." Yeah, I know, I get it. Is that how it's always gonna be? Don't you think this should be about us, for once? Maybe it should be about what we want. Hey, have you already forgotten? Adachi murdered people. He murdered the girl we loved! There's no way we could ever forgive him, not ever. It's out of the question. People like him need to be taught a lesson, and we're the ones to do it!"

"Shut up," muttered Yosuke. "You think I don't know that? That's just not what's important right now."

"Oh," continued Other Yosuke, "and hey, those precious friends of yours? I mean…come on, they're taking this so easily. They're so ready to forgive him and let him off the hook, just because some weirdo from the mysterious, magical 'Velvet Room' says that they should. They don't even want to remember what Adachi's really like! Even your precious partner's trying to blow off what happened. Is that really friendship? Do you honestly think they even care about you, if they're so ready to let that all go? What kind of real friend could forgive a guy who hurt you so much? Nah, that's not loyalty. I don't' buy it. None of them understand. None of them even give a shit about you. Why should we care about them?"

Yosuke gritted his teeth. "It doesn't matter," he mumbled.

"Huh?" asked the shadow. "Wait, seriously? It doesn't-?"

"Who cares how they feel about me?" he asked, a little more loudly than maybe he'd intended. "You think that's what friendship really is? You think I'm only supposed to care about them when they do whatever the hell I think they should do? Of course they don't' want to understand how I feel. It makes them uncomfortable and it makes them upset. That's just how people are. I can't let it get to me. No matter what happens, Yu's my partner. He's my best friend. They're all my best friends. That means that I need to have their backs, even they don't really have mine. It's um…uh, wait, what the hell is the word that I'm looking for?"

There was a long silence.

"Unconditional," mumbled Other Yosuke.

"Yeah," agreed Yosuke, nodding. "That's the one. Friendship is unconditional."

**Chapter 9: The Grass is Always Greener**

**Author's Note: **Chie wasn't able to be at the confrontation with Yukiko's shadow. For obvious reasons, she has a few things to say about that.

This story takes place directly after Chapter Forty Five of **Dreamgirl.**

**The Grass is Always Greener**

Yukiko, Yosuke, Y u and Rise emerged from the TV to find Chie standing there waiting for them.

"Yukiko!" she shrieked, grabbing her by both shoulders. "Are you all right? Are you hurt? What happened?"

Yukiko was genuinely startled. "I'm…I'm fine, really," she insisted, gently prying Chie's fingers off. "But…Chie, how did you know I was in there?"

Chie snorted. "I called your cell," she informed her. "When no one picked up, I tried the Inn, but they said that you'd stepped out. It wasn't that hard to figure out what had happened. After that chat we had last night, I…I just knew that you'd do something like this. I only wish I'd figured it out a little sooner!"

"Chie," murmured Yukiko, amazed and encouraged, not for the first or last time by how unreasonably attuned her best friend was to her motives and movements.

Chie, however, was no longer paying any attention to Yukiko. Now, she was glaring daggers at Yu and Yosuke, who both took an involuntarily step back as she advanced on them with murder in her eyes.

"How dare you?" she hissed. "Both of you…you should be ashamed of yourselves!"

"What?" demanded Yosuke. "Wait, what the hell did we do?"

"You broke our rule!" Chie blazed at him. "You only took three people in there! There are always supposed to be at least four! Someone could have gotten hurt. Yukiko could have-!"

"Hey," interrupted Rise, sounding peeved. "I was there, too."

Chie gave Rise a quick, withering look. "Um, no offense," she muttered, "but you're…I mean, you can't exactly fight. It's not like you could have stepped in if something had gone wrong, you know what I mean?"

Rise made a face, and looked as though she was going to object, but Chie obviously didn't notice. She was too busy being livid at the boys, who were now staring blankly at each other as though uncertain exactly what to do to stem the tirade.

Chie took a deep breath. "You should have called me," she told them. "I should have been there for her. For all of you!"

Yosuke held up his hands in a gesture of defense. "You were at work!" he reminded her. "Aren't you still supposed to be at work? What did you want us to do? You want us to call you at the station and drag you away from your desk right in front of Dojima-san? How suspicious would that be? No way, there's no way that would work. So you had to sit this one out, big deal. What's the point of flying off the handle about it? Calm down!"

That looked to Yukiko as though it only made Chie even more furious. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head as she raged, "Calm down? I am not going to calm down! Any of you could have died in there! We don't even know exactly what we're up against, and you're acting like is no big deal! You are never going in there without me again, do you understand me? You better promise, or I'll…I'll…"

Yukiko placed a hand on Chie's shoulder. "Chie, please," she insisted gently. "I'm okay. Really, I am. We're all okay. There's nothing to worry about anymore."

Chie opened her mouth, then shut it again, deflating gradually under Yukiko's calming influence.

"Hey, Chie," began Yu. Chie just shook her head, cutting him off.

"Come on, Yukiko," she muttered, taking her friend by the arm. "We're leaving."

Yukiko didn't protest. Chie didn't seem to be in the mood to be argued with. Instead, Yukiko let Chie drag her all the way out of Junes and halfway down the sidewalk of the shopping district.

"I was so worried…" muttered Chie. "When I realized you'd gone in there without me, I thought…I thought maybe you'd meet your shadow again, just like Yosuke, and like Kanji. What if you got attacked by your Other Self again, only this time, I wasn't there to help? I…I didn't want that to happen. After you stayed up all night listening to me talk and whine last night…I didn't want you to feel like I wasn't there for you, anymore. You know, because you're always there for me, and…"

Yukiko felt a little twinge of guilt, and she bit her lip. "I think there's something I should tell you," she murmured. "I don't think you're going to like it, but it can't be helped."

Yukiko went on to describe the confrontation that she'd had with her shadow in the TV World, the way the shadow had turned into Kasai, and how it had then turned into some horrible creature which had accused her of things she'd known all along were still true in the pit of her soul. Chie stood quietly, not saying a word, her eyes getting wider and wider with every word Yukiko added to the story. Once or twice, Yukiko saw Chie clench her fists or grit her teeth, obviously forcing herself not to shout out or protest against something that Yukiko had done or said.

"So," finished Yukiko, fumbling for some positive note to end on, "that's…that's what happened. And you see, I wasn't alone."

Chie didn't say anything for a long moment. Yukiko, who had been desperately hoping that Chie might just laugh the whole thing off, felt her heart begin to sink her chest.

"I'm sorry," she murmured "I…I wish I could have been the person that I tried so hard to be. I wish I could be as happy and as satisfied as the rest of you. I wish I had more answers, but…"

"Oh, Yukiko…" Chie sighed. Shaking her head, she grabbed her friend up in a big, tight hug that sent some of the breath rushing out of Yukiko's lungs.

"Like I didn't already know all of that," continued Chie. "Please, do you really think any of us expected anything else? We're all like that. We all want something more, and something different."

"But," managed Yukiko uncertainly, as Chie very slightly relaxed her death grip. "No one else ever talks about leaving Inaba. No one else ever seems to have any doubts about what they want. Yu-kun even came back to us, after all this time. Even Naoto-kun, and Rise-san…"

Chie shook her head. "Don't you get it? It's the same thing," she insisted. "Rise-san wanted to be a star, but she wasn't sure she'd be as happy being famous as she had been with us in Inaba. Naoto's a famous detective, but she still thinks about the people she left behind when she started to call somewhere 'home.' It's not because Inaba's so perfect or because we're all so wonderful, or anything like that. It's because, um…" For a moment, Chie fumbled, apparently trying to think of the right words. "Oh, what's that thing that Teddie always says? 'The grass is always greener.' It's like, a proverb that means you always wonder if things would be better if they had turned out some other way. Everybody's like that. Everybody thinks about the stuff they don't have. There's nothing wrong it, and there's nothing wrong with you."

Chie said that last part so fiercely and defensively that it was almost like a challenge to anyone who might dare to disagree. Yukiko felt a smile beginning to creep across her face, and this time she was the one who reached out to hug Chie, albeit much more gently.

"I wish you'd been there," Yukiko admitted. "But…I'm glad you're here, now. That's what matters."

"Right," agreed Chie. "I'm here now. And I'm not going anywhere. Even if you leave Inaba, you're stuck with me."

**Chapter 10: Destroy**

**Author's Note: **Difficult day, relationship problems, fights. Not in a delighted mood, and as we are all well aware by now, when I'm in a bad mood, I write lots of Adachi. Thus, this.

The lyrics at the beginning, by the way, are by Josh Woodward. I heard this song the other day and was drawn to it.

**Destroy**

_Destruction and creation are the same thing after all_

_The mighty always fall_

_I want to destroy something beautiful for you_

After everyone else had gone, Adachi sat on the floor in the Velvet Room for a while, just staring at the wall. Moments turned into minutes, minutes into hours, and hours blended together until he wasn't sure just how long he'd been sitting there, his mind wandering as far as it could away from the miserable boredom of being alone in this blue hell.

There was no time in the Velvet room. Even if he'd tried to count the seconds, it wouldn't have meant anything. The nothing stretched on forever. It was an empty place.

Emptiness didn't relax Adachi. He couldn't be calm in silence. Having nothing to let his brain work on only set him more and more on edge. He fidgeted with the cuffs of his shirt, felt his toes twitching inside his shoes, and reached his hands into his pockets, desperate for anything to distract him from himself.

All he found in his pocket, however, were a couple of crumpled up pieces of paper. He pulled them out and smoothed them as best he could against the Velvet Room floor. They were, of course, the two pieces of the colored drawing that Nanako had shown him that evening at the Dojima home. On a whim, Adachi pushed the two pieces together, until the picture was whole again, although the jagged cut where the scissors had done their work was still plainly visible on both sides.

It was a terrible picture, even by childhood's standards. Nanako had absolutely no sense of proportion at all. Everyone's feet were pointing in two different directions, which looked painful and difficult to accomplish. Adachi's eyes were different sizes. Yu had only one hand, while the other was, apparently behind his back for reasons that escaped Adachi. Nanako had much longer hair than she'd ever had in real life. She was also much taller. Dojima had a stupid look on his face, which was one of the only things that Adachi thought was really accurate about the entire thing.

Everyone in the picture was smiling, too. _That's pretty accurate, _thought Adachi objectively, thinking back on the many times that he'd dropped in, announced or otherwise, on the Dojima family dinner after work. Dojima had spent a lot of his time growling at Yu or shouting at Adachi, and Nanako seemed to spend most of her time getting embarrassed on her father's behalf, but…for some reason, Adachi still had this overwhelming impression of happiness and smiling when he thought about those times.

It was almost as though there had been this level of nauseatingly companionable comfort beneath all of that conflict and shouting. There had been laughter, too, when Nanako had asked her ridiculously childish questions about the weather, or when Adachi had tried out one of his magic tricks. Adachi had one very strong memory, in particular, of a time when then all gone home together after a successful break in the case, and there had been sushi for everyone. Even Dojima had spent that evening smiling.

_Yeah, _decided Adachi. _We were pretty happy, I guess._

Something twinged painfully in Adachi's chest. "Nngh," he grunted, hunching forward for a moment. The papers fluttered out of his hands and landed on the floor. Another pair of hands, a lot like his own, reached down and collected them.

Adachi stared up into the yellow, disdainfully sneering eyes of his Other Self.

"We?" drawled Other Adachi, raising a skeptical eyebrow. "Seriously, 'we' were happy? What the hell makes you think you were ever a part of them?' Come on, don't lump yourself in with that kind of happy-go-lucky dumbass crap. Jeez, you're embarrassing me."

Adachi frowned. "Yeah, maybe," he muttered. "Still, Nanako-chan seems pretty sure that-!"

"Oh, please." Other Adachi rolled his eyes. "You think they cared about you? Is that what you want to believe? Ugh, you make me sick."

Adachi pointed at the two pieces of picture that Other Adachi was holding. "You can't argue with the facts," he said, shrugging.

"She was a seven year old kid; she could barely find her own ass without a fucking guidebook." Other Adachi looked exasperated. "She would have cared about anything. At that age, they bring stray puppies home. They collect pet fucking rocks if daddy says they can't have a real pet. You get it? You were a pet. That how you want to live the rest of your life, following some kid around like a sick, lost puppy? Like maybe she's gonna give some meaning to your life, or something? Like that's gonna happen. How many times do I have to try to get it through your thick-ass skull?"

Suddenly, Other Adachi grabbed the large piece of the picture in both hands and tore it in two. Adachi scrambled to his feet and reached for it, but his Other Self was already shredding it, tearing off tiny piece after tiny piece and letting each of them flutter to the ground. Before too long, the entire drawing Yu, Dojima, and Nanako was destroyed, scattered across the carpet. One of Nanako's scribbled eyes stared up at Adachi from right next to his foot.

"Pets aren't supposed to bite their masters," Other Adachi informed Adachi, passing him back the drawing of himself. "Kids aren't allowed to have dangerous pets. Guess it's gonna be the pound for you after all." Then he vanished, back into Adachi's soul.

Even whole again, with both himself and his Other Self residing within the same frame, Adachi could feel the emptiness.

The moments continued to turn into minutes, the minutes into hours, and the hours to be meaningless.


	4. Part Four: Dreamscape

Title: **Dreamscape**  
Category: Games » Persona Series  
Author: Ari Moriarty  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T  
Genre: Friendship/Romance  
Published: 01-04-14, Updated: 01-08-14  
Chapters: 5, Words: 7,789

**Chapter 1: Skier Level Nine**

**Author's Note: **Okay, so, I really did intend to start working on the sequel to **Dreamgirl, **but I got distracted while skiing up in the mountains with my brother, and I ended up writing this instead.

I guess I'll do just ONE MORE little drabble collection before I post the first chapter of the sequel. I'm sorry. Please forgive me.

All of these stories take place in the timeline of **Dreamgirl, **obviously. They occur after the events of **Perchance to Dream.**

**Ski Level: Nine**

"Chie," asked Yu, as they trudged out together on to the ski slopes, "why didn't you bring the snowboard out today? I know you have more fun on that than you do on skis."

Chie shrugged. "Well, uh, yeah, sure, a snowboard's more my style, but…" She flushed slightly, and glanced down at the snow. "Well, its Valentine's Day, and I wanted to…to spend it with you. We can stick together better if we're both on skis, don't you think?"

She gave him a sheepish, hopeful sort of look, and Yu felt his heart doing that awkward, schoolboy melty thing that it always did when she looked at him that way. He wasn't sure if Officer Chie Narukami of the Inaba Police Department would be more flattered or more offended if he told her how cute she was, but he erred on the side of caution and kissed her quietly on the top of the head instead.

"Thanks," he said.

If anything, Chie turned redder. "Uh, d-don't mention it. Sure. I'm…I'm having fun already! Haha…"

She took off down the slope, and Yu followed her for a ways until they came to the place just under the lift where they'd agreed to meet the rest of their friends. It was very early still, and no one else was there yet, although Yu thought he saw someone in a heavy coat off in the distance, trudging down the steps of the ski lodge.

"This was a pretty great idea of Yosuke's," remarked Chie excitedly, bouncing experimentally on the balls of her feet and listening to the sound of the snow crunching underneath her skis. "Man, I don't think I've been skiing since that one time when we all went together! Just wasn't the same without you and the others. Didn't seem like it would end up being any fun. Oh, but, don't worry, I can still do it. I mean, it's kinda like riding a bicycle, I guess? It just sort of...comes back to me naturally. Yeah, I'll be fine."

"You were more than fine the last time we came," Yu reminded her. "You and Yosuke were snowboarding circles around the rest of us on the first day."

"Hey, you weren't so bad yourself," retorted Chie. "Weren't you the one teaching everyone else how to ski? You're way more patient than I am. I mean, you know I like Rise, and all, but I don't think I could have followed her down and picked her up over, and over, and over…huh, maybe it's because of all of my training? My reflexes are pretty good, and you really need that kind of thing for skiing."

Yu nodded. "Maybe so," he agreed.

"But," Chie went on, "I definitely wish I'd gone back. Uh, I mean, before today. If I could have practiced a little, then I could have gotten a lot better by now, and then I'd be able to impress you! Even back then, I, uh…I really wanted to impress you."

She fell silent for a moment, and Yu reached out to squeeze her hand through her ski glove. Chie clearly hadn't been expecting that, and she dropped her pole in surprise. Yu caught it for her as it fell and handed it back.

"You don't have to impress me anymore," he told her. "I don't need you to do anything special for me. I'm happy with you just the way you are right now."

Chie shook her head. "But I want to impress you," she insisted quietly, clearly embarrassed but determined to get the words out. "I think…I think that's part of what love is. It's never enough, you know? I just want…I always want to be better for you. I want to keep getting better, and to keep making you happier, and happier, and happier, until, uh…actually, I don't know until what. But I want that. Is that…weird?"

_No, _thought Yu, remembering the hour he'd spent in the lodge that morning, frowning at himself in the mirror while Yosuke insisted with uncharacteristic patience that Yu's old ski coat did still fit and did not, in fact, make him look fat at all. He remembered the long Sunday afternoons he'd spent ten years ago, hanging around at Souzai Daigaku trying to get them to give him the recipe for their famous steak sauce so that he could surprise his new girlfriend Chie with a perfectly delicious homemade steak dinner. _No, it's not strange at all._

"Huh? What's up?" Yu realized that Chie was frowning at him. "You're zoning out…"

"It's nothing." Yu shook his head. "I was just thinking."

There was, as far as Yu could see, no one else around. This was clearly his moment. The mood was perfect. Dropping both of his poles on to the ground beside him, he leaned in, did his best to find Chie's waist through her heavy ski-coat, and pulled her close to him.

"Yu!" she squeaked in surprise, and then fell silent as he kissed her. He could feel the heat radiating from her cheeks as she, too, abandoned her poles in favor of getting a better grip on the situation.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Mrs. Narukami," murmured Yu. The words felt strange on his now-warm lips, and he realized that he didn't remember ever having called her that before. He liked the way it sounded. It made him feel good and proud to think that this super cute, enthusiastic ski pro was his wife.

"Happy Valentine's Day," whispered Chie, clearly surprised at this unexpected and uncharacteristic romantic interlude. "U-um...I have something for you, but I left it back at the lodge. I…I made it, but I think it's good this time. I…it might be edible. I think it is. I'll eat some too, so…you won't have to suffer alone?" She grinned. "Wouldn't ask you to do anything I wouldn't do myself, haha…"

_I would eat it no matter how terrible it might be,_ thought Yu. _No, actually…I WILL eat it, and it WILL be terrible, and we'll both know it…but I'll eat it anyway._

Yu smiled at Chie, and Chie smiled at Yu, and they were just beginning to bask in the slightly awkward glow of their newlywed vacation sun when someone called out to them from the direction of the lodge.

"Chie! Yu-kun!" Yukiko was waving at them as she plodded across the snow in her skis. "Sorry I'm late. Hmm? Where is everyone? Oh!" Apparently realizing that she'd just interrupted something, Yukiko stopped and frowned. "Is…this a bad time?"

"No! No, of course not." Chie gave Yu an apologetic little look. "Looks like the others all slept in, though. Oh well…"

"Do you want to take a run just the three of us, then?" asked Yukiko. "If we're fast, maybe we can be back before the others arrive! Oh, but…I would feel badly if we made them wait for us. Maybe it's better if we stay put for now."

Yukiko was eyeing the slopes hopefully over her shoulder, and Yu knew that Chie had been eager to get started ever since she'd gotten up that morning.

"You two go ahead," he suggested. "Take a few runs together while you can. I'll wait here for Yosuke and the others."

"Are you sure?" Chie was chewing on her lip. "I mean, uh, it is Valentine's Day and all..."

Yu gave her a reassuring smile "We'll ski together later. I promise."

Again, they shared a little moment. Yu thought he saw Yukiko roll her eyes, although for some reason she was now smiling widely at the back of Chie's head, her eyes dancing.

"Come on, Chie," insisted Yukiko, grabbing Chie by the arm. "Yu's right. It'll be fun to go up just the two of us. Besides, we've got a lot to talk about." She shot a significant glance at Yu.

"Huh? We do? What…ouch! Okay, okay, I'm coming!" Chie waved one last time at Yu, and then let Yukiko drag her off into the lift line.

Yu watched them go, feeling ridiculously good about himself. _It's a beautiful day today, _he decided, glancing up at the sun peeking through a set of impressive clouds that were suddenly threatening snow.

"Heey! Big Bro!" Nanako appeared over the horizon, teetering uncertainly on her skis. "Um…oh, are you by yourself? Where's Chie-san? Eek!"

Nanako swayed, faltered, then gritted her teeth, took a deep breath, and trudged the rest of the way over to her cousin.

"How's it going?" asked Yu, looking down at Nanako's skis. "Getting the hang of it?"

"Um…maybe?" Nanako sighed. "It's harder than I thought! It's fun, though. Just, um…"

Yu chuckled. "Bring your skis a bit closer together," he suggested. "Good. Now, grip your poles a bit farther down. Right. Now…"

**Chapter 2: Skier Level Seven**

**Author's Note: **So, I don't ship KanjixNaoto. I never have. In fact, I ship this (and many of you know that already.) I'm sorry, guys. I know you were hoping for a KanjixNaoto fic, but hopefully this will at least pique your interest.

**Skier Level: Seven**

"Hey, Amagi-senpai," grunted Kanji, as he watched Yukiko and Chie sliding together into the lift line. "Uh, you got a second? Something I wanted to ask you about…"

He fidgeted uncomfortably with one of his poles, tracing nervous concentric circles in the snow. Yukiko raised an eyebrow.

"Huh? What is it? I'm skiing with Chie right now, but…"

"Oh, no, it's fine!" Suddenly, Chie was staring wide-eyed at Kanji, with a sort of dumbstruck realization dawning on her face. "You guys talk! I'll, uh, meet you at the top! Yeah! See you!" Then she took off, elbowing some poor bystander out of the way as she forced herself further ahead in the lift line.

"Wha-? That was weird," mumbled Kanji. For some reason, his cheeks were turning pink, and Yukiko found herself wondering if maybe he wasn't bundled up warmly enough, and was starting to catch a cold. "Wonder what's up with Chie-senpai."

Yukiko shrugged. "Who knows? Sometimes she just gets like that. I guess I'll meet her at the top after all. "

"Y-yeah." Kanji was staring hard at his boots. Yukiko waited, but he just kept staring silently at the ground.

"Was there…something you wanted to talk to me about?" she asked coaxingly, when it looked as though Kanji wasn't going to volunteer any more conversation.

Kanji opened his mouth, closed it, and then gave Yukiko a very pained sort of look. "Well, sorta."

He didn't have time to say anything more. The line had begun moving again, and they were swept back into the flow of it until they found themselves at the front. Yukiko turned to look over her shoulder, watching as the lift chair slowly moved towards her, preparing to scoop her up. She sat down as soon as it brushed the back of her legs, and Kanji quickly did the same. Then the chair lifted them both off of the ground, and they were hanging in mid-air and heading steadily towards the top of the ski slope.

"Listen," muttered Kanji, as Yukiko gazed down over the side of the chair at the snowy landscape below. "Do you, uh, remember that promise we made? When we were kids, I mean?"

Yukiko chewed on her lip and really did try to remember. "A promise? Well, no…I'm sorry, Kanji-kun, but that was such a long time ago. We used to play a lot of things when we were children together, so it's hard to remember just one. What kind of a promise was it?"

Kanji said something under his breath that sounded like "Valentine's Day." Out loud and a bit more audibly, he said "Nah, doesn't matter. Forget it. Uh…s'nothing."

_It doesn't look like 'nothing,'_ thought Yukiko, frowning at the bare, reddening place underneath Kanji's goggles and above his collar. As the chair kept rising, she mused to herself, thinking back along old, long-forgotten lines and remembering games of pretend that she and a very young Kanji had played in the textile shop when his mother and her mother had been busy operating within what had then been the boring world of "business."

"Valentine's Day," she murmured, thinking of pretty red and pink scarves patterned with hearts. Kanji had given her one for Valentine's Day one year, when she had been maybe ten or eleven years old. He'd growled something about his annoying old Ma making him do it, but he'd been happy when she'd worn it. The edges of the scarf had been cut poorly and had frayed quickly, leading to Yukiko's secret and guarded belief that Kanji had made the garment himself.

He'd said something to her that day too, hadn't he? She shook her head, trying to remember. He'd been so serious, and it had made her laugh, which had made him mad, but eventually…

"Kanji-kun," asked Yukiko. "Are you talking about the promise we made on Valentine's Day? The one we made after you beat up the boy that was picking on me?"

Kanji nodded gruffly. "Yeah. That's the one."

If Yukiko remembered correctly, there had been a boy who'd followed her around quite a bit when she was in elementary school. She'd been polite to him, but she hadn't really had much interest in playing with any boys who weren't Kanji. Most boys only talked about guns and the violent movies they'd snuck into their parents' bedrooms to watch, and Yukiko had been a good little girl. She hadn't been interested in that sort of thing, and neither had Kanji.

One day, the little boy had asked her to come over to his house for a play date, and Yukiko had gently declined. She'd said that her mother didn't like her to go over to little boys' houses, and, technically that had been true, although it hadn't been the real reason. The boy had gotten angry, and had started teasing her about being boring because she always did what her Mommy told her to do. He'd said that she was ugly and that he didn't want to play with her anyway.

For some reason, thinking about all of that made Yukiko smile. _And it was the same so many years later, with Mitsuo-kun, really…and with other boys. Maybe it's true that some boys never do grow up._

Back then, when she'd been little and that boy had called her "ugly," Yukiko had gone running to Kanji, sniffling and sniveling and trying not to cry. Kanji had gone right out to face the boy, who was at least a whole year older than he had been, and had punched him right in the mouth. There had been a lot of angry words between Kanji's mother and the other boy's parents, but eventually it had sorted itself out one way or another.

"Don't worry," Kanji had assured Yukiko, puffing out his little nine-year-old chest and drawing himself up to his full, unimpressive height. "Uh, you're not ugly. You're really pretty.

"But no one likes pretty girls," Yukiko had sobbed. "They just get mad at me…I make everyone mad! Why? Why is everyone always mad at me?"

_Even then, _thought Yukiko, _I knew how cruel jealous people could be. I knew that was just the way the world was, even if I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to hurt anyone, but this boy hated me just because I had but didn't give him something he wanted. Children can be so very selfish and cruel…and so can adults. People are like that, sometimes._

"Uh, I'm not mad," Kanji had mumbled.

"You," Yukiko had told him petulantly, "are the only one. You're the only boy I like in the whole world. All the other boys are so strange and mean! They call me names and shout at me in the street. They say things that make me scared."

"Girls are meaner," Kanji had retorted "Always making fun of me and looking at me weird. They mutter about me my back and then they start that creepy giggling. Girls are scary. I hate girls. Uh…I mean, other girls. You're okay, I guess."

They'd sat there together in the textile shop for a moment, cross-legged and pouty, listening to the sounds of Kanji's mother talking animatedly with a customer at the storefront.

"Well," Yukiko had said eventually, "it doesn't matter. I like you, and you like me, and we'll always like each other, so…that's that, then."

"Huh?" Kanji had frowned. "What's what?"

"If I don't find any other boys I like, and you don't find any other girls you like," Yukiko had explained, "then we'll just be together. We can get married and ignore everyone who doesn't like us. Yes. That's…that's a good solution."

She'd shuffled uncomfortably, and Kanji had stared at her out of wide eyes as though she'd been the one who'd just socked him in the face, but it had been a promise in the sense that both of them had felt and acknowledged it in their childishly innocent moment of dissatisfaction. Yukiko remembered that moment now with a hint of a nostalgic sadness, as well as a smile.

_Everything was a lot simpler back then, _she thought. _Everything was black and white...even love. It was easy to make promises._

"Well?" asked Kanji. Yukiko snapped out of her reverie to realize that he was now watching her closely. There was trepidation and uncertainty in his eyes, and Yukiko sighed.

"Kanji-kun, you have someone you like, don't you? What about-?"

"She ain't interested," snarled Kanji, shaking his head and dismissing whoever it was with a sharp gesture of his hand. He almost dropped his poles and had to clutch frantically at them again to prevent them from falling. "Come on, senpai. Lets' be real. It's been ten years. I'm…you know, 'an old friend.' You guys think I don't know that? Doesn't matter if I like her or not. She ain't interested in me. She ain't going for it, and that's just the way it is. Can't be helped." He dragged one pole miserably across one of his skis, making a satisfyingly grating sound.

"That's no reason to give up," insisted Yukiko quietly. "She just doesn't know you as well as I do."

"Yeah?" Kanji raised an eyebrow, and then let out an explosive exhalation. "Yeah? How long's she gotta know me for before she starts to like me, then? Like, is there really any point in waiting forever? I don't…I don't wanna die alone. Like…you know, I want to grow old with somebody. That really a lot to ask? Guess it is."

Carefully, Yukiko shifted her poles into her left hand, and reached her right out to pat Kanji gently on the shoulder. He glared down at her hand, but didn't try to shake her off, maybe because he was worried about losing his poles again.

"No, it isn't too much to ask," she murmured. "But you can't give up. You have to help her understand how much you care about her."

Kanji shrugged. "And if it doesn't work? The hell am I supposed to do if she just won't get it?"

_Then, _thought Yukiko, _we have our promise. I won't forget._

She didn't say it out loud. She wasn't sure she needed to. Instead, she and Kanji sat in gently commiserating silence until the chair came to a stop at the lift station, and they both slid back on to their feet.

"Sorry," muttered Kanji, waiting for her to readjust the straps on her boots. "Uh…guess that was a dumb thing for me to bring up."

Yukiko still didn't say anything.

_No one wants to die alone, _she thought to herself, watching as Naoto waved to them from around the corner. _At least you've met someone you care about. For me…there hasn't been anyone else, really. At least, there hasn't been anyone who's ever meant as much to me as that little boy in the textile shop._

Seeing Naoto, Kanji gave Yukiko a little smile, and she nodded, encouraging him to head off without her. He took a deep breath, and then skied off in Naoto's direction, leaving Yukiko alone by the lift.

_But that was a very long time ago, _she told herself, letting that bittersweet mix of memory and disappointment wash over her. _Every day, it's longer and longer ago._

**Chapter 3: Skier Level Five**

**Author's Note: **I really like writing Nanako. She's such a cheery, positive person. Some days, I wish I could be more like that. Anyway, this chapter was just fun to write.

**Skier Level: Five**

Nanako was delighted, ecstatic, invigorated, and thrilled. She was also covered from head to toe in snow.

The mountains were absolutely beautiful in the winter. Ever since she'd been a little girl, Nanako had loved snow, as children generally do. Snow had been something to play in, and something that sometimes, if she was really very lucky, got her a day off from school to play at home. Her favorite days, and the luckiest days of all were the very few days when the snow in Inaba had gotten so bad that it had closed down several local businesses. On those days, Dad had been forced to stay home with her, and they'd played in the snow together.

Yes, snow had always been fun and exciting, but that wasn't and hadn't been the only reason that Nanako enjoyed it. Snow was magnificent, whether resting on the ground or falling from the sky. Snow was somehow magical, coldly beautiful and otherworldly. It was wet like rain but soft and tickly at the same time. It only came a few times every year, and something that is rare is by its very nature extremely special.

This trip was, therefore, extremely special, both because of the rarity, and because of the snow. The whole ski slope was a kind of winter wonderland dreamscape, looking like a picture out of a travel magazine or out of a fairytale book about snow princesses and queens.

Perhaps the best part, though, was that even at age seventeen, Nanako had found a way to play in it.

"Eek!" she shrieked in genuine delight as she and her beloved Big Bro tore down the hill together, clutching at their poles and squaring their shoulders, the white ground racing up to meet them.

Nanako was not entirely sure that she would be able to stop. Twice already, she had crashed into snow banks and floundered around on her side while Yu gazed down at her with conflicting expressions of both amusement and concern on his face. He had picked her up, brushed her off, and then had then burst out laughing at the way she'd been grinning up at him with snow melting rapidly off of her nose and forehead.

_Big Bro will catch me if I fall, _she knew. _Everything is going to be fine. I'm having fun!_

"Nanako!" called Yu, waving one hand emphatically in the direction of the ski lodge. "Let's take a break!"

Obediently, Nanako swung her skis around sideways the way Yu had told her, and eventually managed to drift to a halt. Yu slid in much more gracefully beside her and they both paused for a moment to take a deep breath.

"You look cold," Yu told her, frowning. "You should go in for a few minutes."

"I'm fine!" Nanako beamed at him. "I'm not cold at all. We can do it again! Oh, this time I want to go even faster! Is there a way to go faster? What if I point my skis straight down the hill, like...'zoom!'"

Yu shook his head. "If you do that, you'll probably just hurt yourself. You have to turn, you can't just go straight down."

Nanako was not convinced. _I want to see for myself, _she decided. _So what if I fall? It can't hurt that badly. I've fallen off bikes, before, and that only hurt a bit. Snow is soft, so…_

"Inside," repeated Yu, raising an eyebrow. "We can ski some more later."

It wasn't really worth arguing about and spoiling the mood. With a resigned little sigh, Nanako unbuckled her skis and set them up on the rack before following Big Bro into the lodge.

"Hey, partner! Over here!" They caught sight of Yosuke waving at them from a far table almost as soon as they stepped inside. He had several cups of steaming hot drinks in front of him, and Nanako thought about how nice a good cup of coffee would feel right now. She and Yu both started over to the table to meet Yosuke.

Before she made it over there, however, Nanako glimpsed someone else sitting in the corner at a large table by himself. It was Adachi, looking honestly ridiculous and definitely miserable in a bright yellow puffy ski coat, with a fuzzy sort of orange hat resting on the table next to him. He was glowering darkly at the tabletop, and everyone seemed to be keeping their distance from him. Most of the people at Yosuke's table were completely ignoring him, although several skiers at other tables kept darting concerned glances in his direction, as if wondering if they should be worried that he might be a bomb about to explode at any moment.

"Adachi-san!" called Nanako, waving and starting over in his direction. He looked up at her, opened his mouth, and started to give her one of his uncertain, lopsided smiles when apparently something behind her caught his eye. He looked startled, and then frowned again, and Nanako glanced over her own shoulder to see Dad, carrying his own tray of hot drinks, approaching them from the direction of the food line.

"There you are!" said Dad, looking pleased. "I was starting to worry about you…although I guess there wasn't much reason to. You were out skiing with your cousin all day, and he knows what he's doing. He's pretty good on those skis, actually. Gotta say, I'm kind of impressed."

Nanako grinned. "Hi, Dad!"

"How about you, Nanako? Are you getting the hang of it, yet?" he asked. "Doesn't exactly come naturally to me, but you're young."

"Yeah! It's a lot of fun!" Nanako nodded enthusiastically. "Um, Big Bro taught me how to turn, and how to ride the lift, and how to stop…sort of." Technically, she decided that was true. Yu had taught her how to stop, she just didn't always manage it. That was her fault, of course, not his.

"Heh." Nanako was pretty sure she heard Adachi snorting in amusement behind her, and she looked to see that he was rolling his eyes, apparently at their enthusiastic description of how talented Big Bro had turned out to be.

"Huh? Oh, hey. Didn't see you there." Dad nodded politely in Adachi's direction, and then moved past Nanako, making for a chair at Adachi's table. Adachi's face instantly fell.

_Shit, _thought Adachi, in a mental voice that only Nanako could hear. _Me and my big damn mouth…here we go._

"You came here with Cho, right? Yeah, I'd almost forgot. Good to see you again, Adachi-san," said Dad.

"Uh…yeah. Nice to…yeah." Adachi's eyes were now darting around the room, as though he were looking for an escape route. Trying not to laugh, Nanako crossed to the other side of the table and sat down right next to Adachi, who turned and gave her a wide-eyed, panicked look that she pretended not to notice.

"Where's Cho-san?" asked Nanako.

Adachi shrugged. "Uh, I dunno. I think she went off skiing with somebody, maybe."

Dad shook his head and clicked his tongue gently. "That doesn't seem fair. She came here with you, didn't she? Shouldn't just leave you by yourself like this. It's not like her to be that inconsiderate. Have you ever been skiing before, Adachi-san?"

"N-no. Not really." he muttered, now watching Dad warily. "You know, uh, athletics has never really been my thing. Uh-!" He laughed nervously, and Nanako was sure she saw him wince, as though waiting for a blow. She wasn't sure why.

Unexpectedly, Dad started to laugh. It was one of his best loud, surprising, unguarded laughs. Nanako liked those the very best.

"Well, we'd better get you in some better shape, then!" announced Dad, reaching out and clapping Adachi hard on the shoulder. Adachi stared, and then shrank away. "After all, if you're going to be joining the force we'll expect you to be in good physical condition!"

"Sheesh," mumbled Adachi.

For a moment, no one said anything. Dad must have gotten some inkling of how uncomfortable the situation had become, because he suddenly nodded to himself, collected his tray, and stood up again.

"I won't bother you," he told Adachi, glancing over at Yu's table where Yu and his friends were sharing some kind of joke. "Don't be afraid to come and join us if you get bored. Oh, and bring Cho with you, when she gets back from…uh, well from wherever she is. We can all take a few runs together. Nanako'll show you how it's done. Isn't that right, Nanako?"

"Right!" chirped Nanako, smiling. Dad grinned back at her before walking away, leaving Nanako and Adachi alone at the table.

"Holy crap," muttered Adachi, burying his face in his hands. "Doesn't get much weirder than that."

Nanako gave him what she hoped was a reassuring sort of look. "He likes you," she informed Adachi.

"Yeah…" Adachi sighed. "That's…that's what's creeping me out so much. It's not like he's that different of a guy, or anything. He's still loud, bossy and annoying. Seriously, I have never heard anybody laugh like that besides him. How the hell do you sleep at night?"

Nanako bit her lip, and was just getting ready to tell Adachi that he'd better learn to be nicer to her father when she heard him sigh inside his head. She could feel his confusion, and the strange, unfamiliar and unwelcome sort of warmth that had made its way into his heart while his guard was down.

_Jeez…Dojima-san's kind of a nice guy when he's not shouting in my face. Figured that was something he saved for Nanako and Naukami, but…hell, he's not so bad. Loud, yeah, and annoying still, but…maybe I kinda wish I'd had a chance to hear him laugh like that back in the old days, when shit still sort of made sense. Not that it made a ton more sense back then than it does now, but…would have been nice, maybe. Might have made a difference. Then again, probably not…_

"So!' Nanako crossed her arms over her chest triumphantly, her ears turning warm with pleasure. "You do like him! You do like Dad! I knew it!"

"What the..? Are you out of your mind? The hell reason did he ever give me to like him? Guy's a loud-ass self-centered prick, and nobody knows it better than I do," mumbled Adachi with unnecessary vehemence. Nanako wasn't fooled.

"Nope," she persisted. "You like him. I can feel it. I can hear it in your mind. You do like him! You two just needed to find something to…well, to not fight about!"

Adachi rubbed at his temples wearily. "Get the fuck out of my head," he muttered.

Nanako laughed. "No, silly. How am I supposed to do that?"

**Chapter 4: Skier Level Three**

**Skier Level: Three**

"You need to stop panicking, Yanase-san. You must relax your posture, and allow yourself to move naturally, or you'll never achieve the necessary velocity to climb that hill." Naoto gestured at a small snowy bump that lay just beyond a section of flat ski slope. "Come, it won't be so hard, quite honestly. Shall we go together?"

Cho eyed the slope dubiously. Then she looked down at her skis, which were pointed together in a kind of warped pizza shape, holding her firmly in place and keeping her from sliding down the hill.

"Um," she mumbled miserably.

Naoto raised an eyebrow. "You work out frequently at the station gym. I've seen you there many times. You are definitely what one would consider 'athletically inclined.' What, then, is the problem?"

_Working out at the gym is one thing, _thought Cho. _Skiing is something totally different. The workout machines in the gym don't move or try to run away from you! The problem is that I'm terrified of falling down the hill and landing on my face! No, on my ass! Either one! It would be pretty embarrassing and painful either way…_

"I really can't afford to get injured right now," Cho muttered helplessly. "Um, there's this case that Dojima-san and I are working on. I don't have my own car, so, if I got hurt and couldn't walk anywhere, then…we'd be in trouble. Right?" She knew how lame it sounded even as she said it, but Naoto, at least, didn't look disappointed. If anything, Naoto seemed genuinely sympathetic.

"It's no use," Naoto sighed, shaking her head apologetically. "I…really don't ski very well myself, and I'm not much of a teacher. I was just as terrified as you are now when Kanji-kun tried to teach me how to ski for the first time. It was…frustrating, and did not come naturally to say the least. Even now, I sometimes have to shut my eyes on the way downhill."

_Then why do you make it sound like it's so easy, when you know that it isn't? _Cho wasn't sure if she should be relieved or annoyed that Naoto seemed to have gone through a similar experience. _If you really don't like doing it, then why try to force me?_

"Maybe," muttered Naoto, clearly defeated, "we should just take a break. I'm sorry."

With that, Naoto dropped her poles into the snow and sat down on the round, looking tired. Ashamed of being so useless and timid, but genuinely relieved at being let off so easy, Cho did the same. The two women sat side by side in silence for a moment, watching other skiers zoom and swoosh past across the flat and over the tiny hill.

"I'm sorry," murmured Cho. "This…really isn't going very well. You should go back and ski with your friends. I'm sure they were looking forward to spending time with you."

"No, it's fine." Naoto shook her head. "This is a worthwhile opportunity. We haven't had a chance to speak a great deal since you joined the police force."

_Nice try, _thought Cho. "Dojima-san asked you to keep an eye on me, didn't he? It seems like the kind of thing that he'd do. I really am sorry." She could imagine the head of the Inaba police department desperately demanding that one of his subordinates look out for his stupid young partner, if only to make sure that she didn't injure herself or anyone else during what was supposed to be a relaxing vacation day.

_But, after all, _she realized, _Dojima-san can't really order Shirogane around, can he? No, she's not really a 'subordinate.' She's a private detective…and she doesn't actually have anything to do with the police force or with his jurisdiction. Maybe he told Officer Narukami to do it, and Shirogane felt bad about it being Valentine's Day, and decided to shadow me herself. That's…well, that's more likely._

Lost as she was in her own rueful thoughts, it took Cho a moment to realize that Naoto was gazing at her in some surprise.

"No, I…he didn't ask me. I mean it. I really did want a chance to, ah…to get to know you." The words sounded strange rolling off of Naoto's tongue, and she looked a bit uncomfortable saying them. "You, Chie, and I are the only women on the police force, after all, and…" She paused for a moment, biting her lip. "And I do know how difficult it can be to join a strange group of people in an unfamiliar place for the sake of solving a case. Even if you are technically one of us, now, I'm sure that the situation can be trying and disheartening for you. I…was hoping that I could make you feel more welcome, here. What is the phrase, exactly? 'Paying it forward?' Some of my closest friends did the same thing for me many years ago."

Naoto smiled hesitantly, and Cho smiled back. She was startled by this unexpected overture, and honestly grateful, even if Naoto did seem as though she wasn't quite sure where to begin with this whole welcoming, bond-forging thing.

"Thanks," said Cho, like she meant it. "I…no, that's really nice of you. It's thoughtful. I appreciate it."

Cho and Naoto clasped hands. Naoto looked really pleased.

_Okay, _thought Cho, seeing her own thoughts reflected in Naoto's eyes. _So…now, what?_

As it turned out, she didn't need to think of a next step after all. While Cho and Naoto watched each other, someone suddenly zipped past Cho's left side, blowing snow in her face.

"Wheee~!" shrieked Nanako gleefully, racing down the hill with her poles held out on either side of her body. "Hello, Cho-san!"

She was gone before Cho even had a chance to respond.

"Oh dear," murmured Naoto. "Senpai is unlikely to be happy about this."

"What? You mean, about her skiing by herself?" Cho frowned, uncertain why that would make Nanako's cousin Yu unhappy. After all, Nanako was already seventeen years old, and would be eighteen in October. She really was old enough, Cho thought, to take a few runs on the ski slope without supervision, especially in a relatively safe and affluent area like this.

"Huh…what's up with you? Slacking off? That's not like you." Adachi suddenly appeared on Cho's periphery. He skidded over and stopped right next to her, leering down at her with malicious merriment in his eyes. "Oh, or maybe you're having trouble getting the hang of skiing, right? Jeez, you can't fire a gun, you're shit at policing, you can't get a date, and you can't even get down the ski slope without landing on your ass. Actually, is there anything you are good at?"

"We're taking a break," Cho heard herself mutter, as her face heated up and that angry, shameful knot starting forming her chest again. "I just-!"

"Save it!" shouted Adachi, taking off after Nanako. "Hey, trust me, I know how it feels. I used to be the worthless rookie, remember? You know what they used to say about me…"

Cho didn't hear the rest of what he said. By the time Adachi finished his sentence, he was already out of earshot.

"Just ignore him," suggested Naoto quietly. "You're neither worthless nor a rookie, obviously. No one would assume-!"

Cho, however, wasn't really listening. She was too busy being frustrated, watching the specks that were probably Nanako and Adachi meeting at the bottom of the hill.

_Worthless? I'm not worthless. I'm not 'slacking off' either There's no comparison between the two of us, Tohru Adachi. They'll never say the things about me that they said about you._

"Yanase?" asked Naoto, frowning. "Are you all right?"

Cho was in the process of struggling to her feet. Naoto hurried to join her, and Cho, taking one last quick, deep breath, finally allowed her skis to drift apart into a more parallel position.

"Wait!" called Naoto. "Yanase-! Oh."

Cho, screaming with terror inside her head, took off down the hill, clenching her teeth hard and squinting against the glare of the snow, hoping that she was gaining on Nanako and Adachi, and waiting for them to appear on the horizon.

"Yanase!" shouted Naoto, still a little ways behind her.

_Oh my god, _thought Cho desperately. _What am I going to do when I get down?_

**Chapter 5: Skier Level One**

**Author's Note: **So, I promised this would be the last drabble collection…but it turns out that I lied. Again. Well, more accurately, I have changed my mind.

See, I just started replaying P3P, and I had forgotten how much I love this game. It's…I mean, I really love this game. Anyway, since many of the P3P characters will be appearing in **The Wildest Dreams, **I thought I'd do a short collection of one-shots featuring those characters ten years after the events of Persona 4. **Meia42** recently remarked to me that it's difficult being dropped straight into a "ten years later" scenario, and so I thought that giving you guys some insight into the new, more recent lives of the P3P characters might help set the stage.

I'm going to do that. But first…here's this.

**Skier Level: One**

Yosuke and Teddie sat together on the ski lift, riding up to the top in silence as the sun began to set. Yosuke could already see that most of the skiers on the mountain had gone in for the day, and that only him, his friends, and a few intrepid locals were still braving the slopes.

Teddie sighed heavily. "I hate Valentine's Day," he admitted mournfully. "It's so sad…"

Yosuke rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on. You love Valentine's Day. Somehow every year, no matter how much of an ass you make of yourself you always manage to get tons of chocolate from girls. You get chocolate from the part-timers at Junes, and from the local housewives. Even my mom gives you chocolate. Last year she gave you all of it and totally forgot about me! Then you stuff your face all night and call in sick on the morning. This happens every single year. What's not to like?"

He had expected Teddie to take offense to at least some of what he'd just said, but instead, Teddie just sighed again, even more dramatically and heart-brokenly than before.

"Yeah," Teddie agreed miserably, "I guess so. Chocolate's yummy, and all, but…it's just not the same. All the other guys get to spend Valentine's Day with a girl. Senpai looks so happy when he's with Chie-chan, doesn't he? I'm tired of being lonely. I'm ready to assert my manhood! I'm ready to-!"

"That's…that's not a thing any of us want to hear you say," muttered Yosuke, shaking his head emphatically. "'Assert your manhood?' What does that even…? You know what, forget it. Never mind. I don't want to know."

"We need to meet some new girls," suggested Teddie, apparently totally ignoring Yosuke's comments. "Nao-chan and Yuki-chan and Chie-chan and Rise-chan are great, but…I think we're out of luck." He frowned. "I've waited a long time for one of them to accept the purity of my beary true love, but…a real man has to know when it's time to move on!"

Teddie sparkled stoically at no one in particular. Yosuke raised an eyebrow.

"Dude," he muttered. "Did you get that crap from Kanj?" He frowned. "I guess you're right, though, kinda. I mean, Chie's spoken for…uh, not that I was ever interested in her. Ew. Oh, and I'm pretty sure that Yukiko's got a thing for Kanji...which let me tell you, I never saw coming. Naoto's…uh, who knows? Does she even like guys? Anyway, Rise's out of our league."

"And Nana-chan's too busy to spend any time with poor little moi," agreed Teddie sadly. "She's busy being with Adachi-baby…"

Yosuke's mouth fell open, as images appeared in his brain that he had never, ever wanted to contemplate. He clenched his jaw, sat bolt upright in his seat, and almost dropped his poles in shock. "What the HELL are you babbling about?" he shouted. Down on the slope, at least two skiers suddenly stopped and stared up at the lift in surprise.

Teddie blinked, and edged a little farther away from Yosuke on the seat. "H-huh? What's wrong, Yosuke? I was just saying that Nanako-chan's too busy keeping Adachi-baby in line and taking care of him to go out with me! She has to spend all of her time making sure he doesn't get into any trouble, remember? Wh-why are you so mad?"

_Right, _thought Yosuke, letting himself relax a a bit as the ugly images faded. _Yeah, of course that's all he meant. You know, because Nanako-chan's, like, Adachi's babysitter these days, or something. Nothing…nothing weirder than that. Oh, man, I am never gonna be able to unsee that. I'm gonna have nightmares, like, forever._

"Never," he growled at Teddie, "say something like that to me ever again. Never, ever again. Do you understand?"

The blank look on Teddie's face made it clear that he did not at all understand. Yosuke exhaled resignedly and did his best to let it go.

"Anyway," he mumbled, changing the subject, "you're right about one thing. We need to meet some new girls. I'm pretty sick of striking out."

"Me too," sighed Teddie.

_Yeah, _thought Yosuke. _I don't think it actually matters how many girls you meet. You're never gonna get the hang of this. You're just too damn creepy…but uh, I guess everybody is somebody's type? Maybe? Who the hell would think of Teddie as her type, though?_

They finished the rest of the ride up in silence. Yosuke was sure that Teddie was thinking about girls. Teddie was, in fact, usually thinking about girls. Not, of course, that Yosuke could really blame or accuse him. After all, Teddie did have a point. It had been a really long time since Yosuke had celebrated Valentine's Day with anything but "friend" chocolate consolation prizes.

"Who knows?" asked Teddie, when they finally slid off the lift. "It's already February! That means it's a new year. Maybe this year will be the year of the babes!"

"Yeah, uh…somehow, I doubt that," muttered Yosuke.

In the back of his mind, though, he hoped like hell.


	5. Part Five: Perchance to Dream

Title: **Perchance to Dream**  
Category: Games » Persona Series  
Author: Ari Moriarty  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T  
Genre: General/Family  
Published: 12-29-13, Updated: 01-02-14  
Chapters: 5, Words: 9,004

**Chapter 1: Lifesaver**

**Author's Note: **I haven't slept more than an hour or so in days. I think it's getting worse.

I do plan to take a short break before releasing the sequel to **Dreamgirl**, but in the meantime, here's what I write when I cannot possibly fall asleep.

These stories all take place in **the Dreamgirl** timeline, sometime after the final Christmas scene.

**One: Lifesaver**

"Yukiko?" Chie didn't sound like her usually, chipper self. "Um…I can't sleep."

It was one o'clock in the morning, and Yukiko had been tucked up in bed at the inn for hours. She regularly used the alarm clock on her cell phone to help her get up in the morning and so she rarely, if ever, turned the phone off or even muted the sound. She did not, however, ever answer calls after midnight. Yukiko Amagi, proprietor of the famous Amagi Inn, was a busy woman, with a great deal of work to do each day, and a large number of people were counting o her to be at her best. She couldn't afford to stay up late chatting with anyone.

Anyone that is, except Chie. Chie was her best friend, and subsequently Chie was the exception to every rule.

"What's wrong?" asked Yukiko, doing her best to stifle a yawn with one hand, and fumbling with the other for the switch that operated the bedside lamp. "Chie, it's so late. Are you okay?"

"Um…well, yeah." Yukiko could hear the uncertain sort of frown in Chie's voice. "I mean, I'm fine. It's not a big deal, or anything."

_That's a lie, _decided Yukiko. _Chie's a sound sleeper, and she's a good friend. She cares about whether or not I get enough rest, and I know she worries about me overexerting myself. She wouldn't call me at this hour unless it was about something really important._

"Um…" Chie took an audible breath. "Hey, Yukiko…do you think maybe I made a mistake?"

Yukiko smiled. "You…may have to be a bit more specific." _Chie has made a lot of mistakes over the years, _she thought, but was careful not to say it out loud. _Actually, that's almost part of her charm. She rushes headlong into everything, always enthusiastic, and sometimes, because she doesn't look first, she messes a bunch of things up. Not that it's her fault, of course That's just her personality. Sometimes I wish I had that kind of confidence._

"Oh come on, you know what I mean." Now Chie sounded slightly frustrated. "I mean…when I, uh, married Yu. Do you think that was the right choice?"

Yukiko was genuinely surprised. She hadn't been expecting that at all.

"Because, um, it's not like we really know each other that well." The words came rushing out all at once, as though Chie had suddenly decided to open the floodgates. "Sure, we've always been great friends, and we went through that whole crazy murder case together. I mean, we've been dating for almost ten years, but…that doesn't really mean anything, I guess. Other couples live together for ages before they get married, sometimes, and all these other people I know who get married always talk about the great trips they've been on together, or the dumb little things they know about each other, and…and Yu and I sort of don't have that. Is that normal? Like, if someone's really right for you, isn't it supposed to feel, uh, more romantic? Not that I'm big on that romantic stuff, or anything, but...I dunno, maybe it might be nice? I'm not actually sure what I'm trying to say." She laughed one of her nervous, self-deprecating little laughs. "Wait, this is weird, I'm sorry. I can't believe I woke you up just to talk about something like this…"

"Really, it's fine," insisted Yukiko. "I think that it's perfectly natural for you and Yu to feel sort of strange about things. After all, you've been in a long distance relationship for ten years. Since the moment Yu moved back to Inaba, you've been trying to maintain a connection over hundreds of miles. It can't be helped if you're still not used to one another."

For a moment, Chie was silent on the other end of the line. "So, then…you do think it wasn't a good idea," she muttered eventually. "Maybe you're right. Maybe we shouldn't have done this. We're nothing like other couples. We're just-!"

"You're just still learning," Yukiko interrupted gently. "You're just still figuring out how to make your relationship make sense. There's nothing wrong with that. These things are supposed to take time."

"Yeah…and we've been so busy lately, with the whole murder case, and the new personas. It's been like ten years ago all over again!" Chie sighed. "It's like we have to try to cram getting to know each other back into our schedules. I just want him to have some time for me. Sometimes I feel like I'm still sitting on the roof waiting to see if he'll show up to ask me out to lunch, or something. It's not comfortable like marriage is supposed to be. It's just making me all nervous! I can't even get to sleep at night anymore."

_But love, _thought Yukiko, _is supposed to make you nervous. _"You'll have time soon," she assured her friend. "Now that the murders are over, and everything's beginning to settle down, you and Yu-kun will have nothing but time for each other. I'll make sure Yosuke doesn't get too much in the way, all right? So please, don't worry. Everything is going to be fine. I know that the two of you are meant for one another. We've all known that for so long."

"How do you know?" demanded Chie. There was a hint of desperation in her voice. "Seriously, because I have no idea, and I need you to help me out on this one, or I think maybe I'll go insane. How can you tell that we're supposed to be together?"

_Because, _thought Yukiko, _I can see how much you love him. When you love someone, you're willing to let them get their way, and you don't mind putting their needs before yours. Love means not just accepting someone's little silly quirks, but looking forward to them. When you love someone, the things they do that annoy everyone else always make you smile._

_Love is being there when someone needs you, even if it's one o'clock in the morning and you've had a long day._

Out loud, she said, "I just know, that's all. I've seen the way he looks at you, and the way you look at him. You're both busy right now, and you're both tired. There's so much going on. There's no doubt, though, that he'd come if you called, no matter when it was or where he was. I've already seen you drop everything for him. Don't worry, Chie. I'm sure that things will start to make more sense, soon. Please, trust me."

For a second, Chie didn't say anything. "Y-yeah," she agreed after a moment, with a new sort of forced confidence in her voice. "Of course I trust you. Yeah, I'm sure you're right. Things are gonna start getting easier, now."

"Definitely." Yukiko smiled.

"Jeez, I don't know what I'd have done if you hadn't picked up the phone," muttered Chie. "I've been lying in bed just thinking the same stuff over and over in my head. I think maybe I would have driven myself crazy. You're a lifesaver. Um…thanks, Yukiko. I mean it."

"You're welcome," Yukiko assured her. "Now, stop worrying so much and get some sleep."

"Night," mumbled Chie.

"Goodnight." Yukiko was still smiling as she listened to Chie hang up the phone. Then she replaced the phone on the bedside table, climbed back into bed, and switched off the light.

After a moment's consideration, however, she reached out, retrieved the phone, and tucked it underneath her pillow, just in case.

**Chapter 2: Watching Paint Dry**

**Author's Note: **Today has been a very disappointing day. I had to fire someone. I wish I hadn't.

I wrote most of this last night at two AM, and finished it this morning to try and cheer myself up. Not a terrifically cheery piece, though. Maybe I'll write something else.

**Two: Watching Paint Dry**

It was two o'clock in the morning, and recently relocated detective Cho Yanase was trying to paint the ceiling of her new living room.

She had a bucket of white paint in one hand, and she was desperately trying to reach the ceiling with a paintbrush she held in the other hand. She was balancing precariously on the topmost rung of a ladder that kept wobbling under her unsteady feet, and she had to will herself over and over again not to look down.

Unfortunately, all the willpower and determination in the world couldn't make Cho any taller. _I just need one more inch, _she thought miserably, venturing up on to her tiptoes and stretching as far as she could._Almost…there…_

The ladder swayed. It teetered. With one frantic movement, Cho made a grab for the wall and braced herself against it, knocking a picture frame off of its hook and sending it crashing to the floor below. She just barely managed to hold on to the paint can, but she did have to drop the paintbrush, which landed almost directly on top of the frame, splattering it, the photo it contained, and several surrounding floor panels with white paint.

Cho took a deep breath and waited for her heartbeat to slow down. She did not like heights, and she never had.

Good policemen, though, as Cho well knew, were not afraid of heights. As far as Cho was concerned, good policemen were not consciously or openly afraid of anything.

As Cho began to climb down the ladder to retrieve her paintbrush, she heard footsteps on the basement stairs.

"Jeez," muttered Adachi, appearing shirtless and bleary-eyed in the stairwell. "Do you have any idea what time it is? What are you even doing up here? It's noisy as hell."

Cho did her best to ignore him. Instead she bent down, picked up the paintbrush, grimaced at the mess on the floor, and then returned to the ladder. Adachi, too, was now frowning at the paint splatters on the flooring.

"So, uh, painting in the middle of the night. This is one of those hysterical stress-relief things, right?" he asked, as Cho climbed the ladder. "You know, like how women always clean shit to help them calm down?"

_Sexist, _thought Cho angrily, her cheeks heating up. Furiously, with renewed determination, she placed one foot on the top rung of the ladder, and began reaching again with her paintbrush, refusing to even make eye contact with Adachi.

"Uh, yikes." She could hear the wince in Adachi's voice. "Hey, listen, if you're gonna be hysterical, you think maybe you could do it in the morning, instead? I'm beat, and it's hard enough to get any sleep without you throwing stuff and making a ton of noise. Every time I close my eyes, I hear something crash or bang. It's really not working for me."

_And I really don't care, _thought Cho. _You can stay awake all night, as far as I'm concerned. I'm not interested in whether or not you manage to get your beauty sleep._

Unfortunately, that wasn't entirely true. Actually, Cho was really quite embarrassed at what a mess she was making of this. She'd much rather have let Adachi sleep than have him awake and watching her while she fumbled with her tools.

"I'll be done soon," she muttered, forcing herself not to apologize to a man whom she was sure she shouldn't feel accountable to.

"Yeah?" Adachi didn't sound convinced. "Really? Because, uh, I don't see you getting any closer to that ceiling any time soon, unless you want me to go and find you a phone book to stand on, or something. And just for the record, if you come falling off of that thing, don't expect me to catch you."

Cho snorted out a laugh. "Don't worry," she informed him under her breath. "I won't."

Adachi rolled his eyes. "Oh, so you snort when you laugh, huh? Real cute," he muttered sarcastically.

"I know," sighed Cho. "I've been told." Even some of the officers and desk jockeys at the station made fun of Cho's unattractive, unladylike laugh. She tried not to let their teasing bother her, but every now and then, it did. It bothered her right now, at two o'clock in the morning when she was exhausted and unprepared for verbal sparring of any kind. She knew she had no reason to care one way or another what Adachi thought of her, but she was human, she was sensitive, and she was disappointed. Of course, she would have died before letting Adachi know that.

"Oh, so I guess you get that a lot? Am I supposed to feel bad for you, or something?" Adachi yawned audibly.

Perhaps more aggressive in her frustration than she would otherwise have been, Cho struck out again for the ceiling, missed again, reached for the wall, and this time knocked a flowerpot off of the nearby mantelpiece. The flowerpot plummeted to the floor and shattered at Adachi's feet. He sighed.

"Look," he muttered. "Tell you what; I'll make you a deal. You get down off that ladder and stop breaking shit, and I'll go up and finish the damn ceiling. After we're done here, you go the fuck to sleep and stop making so much noise. It's a win-win. The ceiling gets painted, and I don't have to try to tune this crap out all night. Deal?"

Cho gazed unhappily at the ceiling. It was still just out of her reach, and now one of her flowerpots was broken, the plant inside it probably permanently destroyed.

_I'm not giving in, _she told herself. _I'm just making him do the work for me. That's delegation. No, it's not even delegation. It's no different than a prisoner performing community service to atone for his crimes. This is um, community service. I really want to get down from here._

"Yes. Fine." Gratefully, but as nonchalantly as possible under the circumstances, Cho climbed down from the ladder, depositing the bucket and brush at Adachi's feet. He picked them up, gave them each a disdainful look, and then stepped on to the ladder. Once at the top, he reached up, and began haphazardly slapping paint on the ceiling.

"You'll make a mess if you do it like that," admonished Cho. "It takes careful, precise brushstrokes to cover the entire ceiling evenly."

"Beggars can't be choosers," retorted Adachi. The ladder wobbled, and Adachi teetered for a moment. Before Cho knew she was doing it, she had both of her hands outstretched, prepared to catch him if he fell. As soon as realization dawned, Cho pulled both arms back down to her sides and tried scowling, but Adachi had already seen her first reaction. He was grinning lopsidedly now as he painted.

"Oh, good," he muttered snarkily. "Yeah, that makes me feel a lot better. Good to know you've got my back, Detective."

Cho said nothing. She seethed silently.

"Hey," he suggested. "If I gotta do this, then you should make yourself useful. Uh, go grab a couple of mugs from the kitchen and make us some coffee, or something. At least that way I won't pass out from exhaustion up here."

Cho stared at him. "Did you…actually just tell me to get into the kitchen?"

"Uh…yeah." Adachi glanced down at her. "Why, you got a coffee maker hidden somewhere else in this house?"

_Sexist, and chauvinistic._ Cho's blood was beginning to boil with the fires of long-suffering righteous indignation. It wasn't, of course, that coffee was a bad idea. What bothered here was the suggestion that she, a woman, belonged in the kitchen while Adachi, a man, belonged on the ladder. _I should be doing this myself, _she thought miserably. _I should have…well, gotten a phone book to stand on, actually._

Adachi sighed. "Oh come on. What's that look for? Sheesh. I didn't even mean it like that. Not that, uh, you've got much a case or anything. Try that feminism shit out on me when you're actually doing a good job at something. Am I right?"

Cho glared daggers at the back of his head. She imagined his head exploding, which was pleasant but slightly alarming.

"How the hell do you survive in the police force with an attitude like that?" Adachi went on. "I figure the guys at the police station make cracks about you being a girl all the time."

"I'm not the only woman on the force," Cho reminded him. "And besides, Dojima-san doesn't let any of the other officers speak to any of us like that."

"Oh, right. Dojima-san." Again, Adachi rolled his eyes. "God's gift to Inaba's women, right? Yeah that's…that may be the weirdest thing I've ever said. Actually, I think I just creeped myself out a little."

_I don't care if you did, _thought Cho. _He's the exact opposite of everything that you are. I wouldn't expect you to appreciate him, or to understand._

"The guy's usually such a hard-ass," Adachi rambled on, carefully shifting is weight to try and sidle over a bit closer to the spot he was working on. "He gives everybody a hard time. He doesn't cut anybody any slack. If he's being nice to you, he's probably already figured out that you aren't good for much, and that it's not worth wasting his time bellowing at you."

_Of course, _thought Cho, _you would say that. _"Dojima-san resents you for the crimes you committed," she reminded Adachi. "You betrayed him and his family. It's only natural that he would treat you harshly. You brought that on yourself."

"Oh yeah?" Abandoning the paint job for a moment, Adachi bit his lip and shook his head. "Is that what you think? Man, you barely even know the guy and already you're acting like he can do no wrong. Let me tell you something, Detective. Ryotaro Dojima's a mean-ass son of a bitch who treats people like dirt. He started pushing me around and acting like an overbearing big-shot pretty much the second they assigned me to his team. He had the balls to go around calling me his 'partner,' and then he'd shout at me for not bringing his damn coffee fast enough. Never occurred to him to even try treating me like another human being. Nah, I was just his gopher. I just had to put up with his irrational ragey shit whenever he woke up on the wrong side of the bed or ate a bad piece of sushi. Trust me; your precious Dojima-san's just as much of a pain in the ass as I ever was. He's just nice to you because you're new, because you're young, and, oh yeah, because you're a chick, and whatever sad sack raised him to think he owned the known fucking universe at least raised him to be extra nice to girls. You got that?"

"That's not true." Cho was having a hard time holding on to her composure. She could hear her voice getting louder as she tried to drown out the ugly things that Adachi was saying about her partner. "I won't listen to you talk about him like that. You were lazy, and you were shiftless. You were cruel, cowardly, and weak. Everyone knows that about you. That's why you and Dojima-san couldn't get along. He couldn't possibly work with someone like you, and I can't blame him for that."

"Heh. You weren't there." Adachi shook his head. "What the hell do you know about it?"

Cho opened her mouth to tell him that she'd heard plenty about his case ever since she'd moved to Inaba, but she stopped as Adachi's eyes suddenly went wide, and for a moment he froze, then sighed and shook his head.

"Crap," he mumbled. "Now Nanako's awake."

"What?" Cho blinked." How do you-? Oh."

"Uh…jeez." Adachi was rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Guess maybe I got a little carried away, there. I mean, there's no way she'd like hearing me talk about her dad like that. Me and my big mouth."

"I'm sure she dislikes a number of the things she hears you say," murmured Cho. "I can only imagine."

"Yeah? Then imagine, and keep it to your damn self," Adachi snapped, shaking his head. "You seriously don't know me, so stop acting like you do. It's really starting to piss me off."

_But I do know you, _Cho wanted to say. _I was determined to catch you, so I've read all the files, and I've read all the reports. I have documented evidence of everything you've said and done for at least ten years. I know who you were dating at the time of the murders. I know your parents' names, where they live, and what organizations they retired from. There's very little about you, in fact, that I don't know. I made a point of knowing._

There was a hesitant little tap at the front door, and Adachi scrambled down from the ladder to answer it. When he pulled the door open, Nanako was standing outside in a set of fuzzy pink pajama pants and a little shirt with a penguin on it. She still looked half-asleep.

"Um…Adachi-san? Are you okay?" She stifled a yawn with one hand and shivered a little in the winter air. "What's wrong? Why are you so angry?"

Adachi shot an exasperated look over his shoulder at Cho, who stared at him in stunned silence.

_Wait, why is he angry at ME? How is this my fault?_

"Nah, it's nothing. We're fine. Just, you know, some late-night home renovation among friends." Adachi didn't try too hard to keep the sarcasm out of his voice, and Nanako raised an eyebrow at him.

"My Dad is a good dad," she told him firmly, "even if he's scary sometimes, and even if he can be hard on people. He only does it because he 'wants them to succeed,' I think. Um, that's what he says, anyway, and I think I get it. He says that it's hard watching people you care about 'not reach their full potential.'"

Adachi shrugged. "Yeah, I know, sure. Sorry. Uh, didn't mean to wake you up. Look, its butt-fuck o'clock right now, okay? You should be asleep."

"So should you," returned Nanako.

"Uh, well, yeah," Adachi agreed, "but, you see, I don't have school in the morning. Paid my dues a long time ago. Come on. We're talking a walk."

O-okay," began Nanako, yawning hugely again. Her face scrunched up a bit when she yawned, and Cho was startled for a moment to see Adachi smile at Nanako with something like genuinely gentle amusement instead of malice in his eyes. He pulled his coat off the hook, took Nanako by the arm and dragged her out of the house, letting the door shut behind him.

For a long time, Cho stood there, absently contemplating the paint splatters on the floor. She wasn't actually sure what she'd need to clean them up. After a while, she gave up on the paint splatters and wandered into the kitchen.

When Adachi got back, Cho was waiting for him.

"Kid tried to talk my ear off instead of going back to sleep," he muttered. "Can you believe Dojima-san didn't even notice that she'd snuck out in the middle of the night? Yeah, he's sure a 'great dad' alright…or not. Then again, I got away with that shit too all the time when I was a kid. Guess my parents weren't so great either."

Cho, sitting on the floor next to the ladder, held out a steaming cup.

"Huh?" Adachi frowned. "What's that?"

"It's coffee," she told him. "I made it."

Adachi , surprised, stared at the coffee. "Uh…really? Thanks, I guess." He took the cup, gazed at it thoughtfully for a moment, then shrugged and sat down on the floor next to Cho.

"You're still painting the ceiling," she said.

Adachi nodded resignedly."Figures."

**Chapter 3: Curfew**

**Author's Note: **Technically I think this is cheating since I did not write this at 3 AM. I wrote it just now, at 10:11 PM, but I'm going to post it anyway.

**Three: Curfew**

It was three AM, and as a pink-cheeked girl she didn't know passed out cold on the couch right in front of her, Nanako tried not to panic.

_Eek, _thought Nanako desperately. _Dad is going to KILL ME._

She'd been hesitantly excited when Hira Iwasaki from her homeroom class had invited her to a party that evening. The party was apparently in honor of Hira's birthday, and so Nanako had spent one whole careful hour after school looking at jewelry and costume trinkets, trying to figure out what Hira might like for a present.

The trouble was, of course, that Nanako barely knew Hira. They'd only spoken a few times since Hira had transferred into Nanako's class at the beginning of that year. She seemed to Nanako like a really nice girl, and she had somehow made a lot of friends very quickly. She was popular with boys and girls alike, and she wasn't rude to Nanako in the hallway or loud and disrespectful in class like so many of the other popular girls.

The party itself, however, had not exactly been what Nanako usually thought of as a birthday party.

For one thing, Hira-san's parents were out of town on a business trip, leaving her alone in the house. When Nanako first arrived, there had only been a few girls at the house, and they'd been happy enough to see her. After an hour or so, however, the boys had started arriving. The boys had brought sake and other kinds of booze, and before Nanako knew what was happening the party had turned from a relaxed little get together with birthday cake to a wild, co-ed romp, complete with drinking games and several people full-on making out in various corners of the house.

The party wasn't very large. Altogether, there were maybe only ten or twelve people there. It wasn't a loud party, either. It was a quietly disturbing drunken mistake full of people losing their clothes and passing out on the furniture. Nanako was worried that some of these people were going to get seriously sick or hurt. She'd heard about that kind of thing happening from the other girls at school, had seen it in television programs, and had been warned about it by her dad, occasionally, but she'd never actually witnessed it happening to anyone she knew. Watching someone black out or get violently ill from alcohol abuse was much scarier, she decided, in person.

Nanako knew, of course, that she should call the police. The police would come, break up the party, and take anyone who needed it to the hospital. In that case, everything would be all right.

She wasn't actually worried about what the act of calling the police would do to her popularity. Nanako wasn't particularly popular at school to begin with, and she knew that she'd feel ten times worse about doing nothing and watching people hurt themselves than she would about blowing the whistle and getting a few girls in trouble with their parents.

_But, _thought Nanako, _Dad is gonna KILL ME._

Nanako knew that if she called the police, and that if the police arrived to break up this party there was a very good chance that Dad would show up and find her here. She wasn't even supposed to be out after ten o'clock in the first place, but since Dad had committed to working all night at the station, Nanako had figured that she probably wouldn't be missed. If he came out and found her here, not just after curfew but surrounded by alcohol and sex, she didn't want to think about how furious with her he'd be.

_He'd probably never trust me to go out at night again, _she realized. _And…and he wouldn't be wrong. I really shouldn't have come to this party, or maybe I should have told him where I was going, and then gone home before ten like I was supposed to! What am I going to do now?_

At midnight, Nanako really wanted to go home. She tried as hard as she could to reach Adachi, but for whatever reason she couldn't connect with his consciousness. Visions of firing guns and violent splatters of thick white paint kept drifting through her mind, and after a while she realized that those images must belong to Adachi's dreams. He was asleep, and no amount of begging, pleading, and thinking as hard as she could seemed to be able to wake him up.

At one o'clock, she tried calling Yu, but his phone didn't pick up. _He probably thinks I'm asleep in bed, _she thought, _and since the murder case is over, he isn't being careful about checking his messages anymore._

At two o'clock, she tried calling Cho Yanase, which was an extremely risky move considering that Cho was Dad's partner and might tell him everything. Still, Cho did live right near the house, and Nanako thought she could probably convince Cho to keep this whole episode to herself if only she'd believe that Nanako had wanted nothing to do with any of the illegal stuff at this party.

Unfortunately, Cho didn't pick up either. She, like the rest of them, was probably asleep after a long, hard day of work.

Nanako was out of other options. She took a deep breath, steeled herself for a difficult conversation, and called Yosuke.

"Uh…hello?" Yosuke sounded confused and half-asleep when he picked up the phone on the fourth ring.

"Yosuke?" Nanako tried not to let him hear how close she was to tears. "Um…were you sleeping?"

There was silence on the other end of the line for a second. "Well, actually, yeah. Wait, is this Nanako-chan? What's going on? It's three o'clock in the morning. Why are you-?"

"Yosuke, um, please don't get angry at me." The tears started flooding out as she rambled frantically into the phone. "Uh, I'm at this party at Hira-san's house, and everyone here is kind of drunk, and some of them are passed out or really sick, and I want to go home but I can't just leave because I'm worried that something bad is going to happen to some people here if I don't get them help. Um…I'm sorry." She sniffled audibly. "Can you come? Please? I'm so sorry. I know it's not fair, but-!"

"No, it's cool, I'm coming," muttered Yosuke. Nanako thought she heard him moving around on his end. "Gotta find my jacket. Wait, where are you, anyway? Can you give me an address?"

Gratefully, Nanako told Yosuke the address before hanging up. She went and stood outside on the lawn to wait for him, and it wasn't long before his car pulled up.

"Hey," he mumbled. "You okay?"

"Uh huh." Nanako stared at her shoes. "I'm…I'm fine. But, Hira-san-!"

"Yeah, I know." Yosuke was already on his phone. "I'm calling the police. They'll come take care of your friends. No sweat. Everything's, uh, gonna be okay."

"But, I…I don't want to see Dad," whispered Nanako miserably. "He'll be so angry with me, and if the police come, then…" She trailed off, looking helplessly at Yosuke. Yosuke eyes widened.

"Wait, you-? Ohhh, I get it. Huh, yeah, I guess Dojima-san would be pretty pissed off about this one. He doesn't know you're out this late, does he?"

Nanako shook her head. "N-no…"

"Right. Okay." Yosuke sighed. "Well, get in the car. We'll call the police from the road, I guess. By the time they get here, you'll be long gone. But, seriously, Nanako-chan, what the hell were you thinking? This…this isn't like you. I mean not that you have to be a saint all the time, or anything, but skipping curfew? Lying to your dad? Drinking? What the hell is going on here?"

"I.." Nanako had nothing to say. Tears dripped on to her shoes, and onto the surrounding pavement. "I'm sorry, Yosuke."

"Uh, well…come on, just get in. Let's get out of here," Yosuke mumbled, pulling open the passenger door.

After Yosuke called the police and directed them towards the party, he and Nanako sat for a few awkward minutes in silence.

"A-are you gonna tell Big Bro?" hazarded Nanako eventually, when the uncomfortable stillness became too much for her.

Yosuke shook his head. "Nope. But you are."

"Me? But he'll be-!" began Nanako quickly. Yosuke held up a hand to cut her off.

"He'll be pissed as hell. Definitely. He does a pretty good impression of Dojima-san in a bad mood. He'll probably end up saying something like 'Really, Nanako-chan, I expected a lot more from you. I'm really disappointed,' or something like that."

Panicked as she was, Nanako still couldn't help giggling over the silly, overblown way that Yosuke imitated Yu's voice. She grinned at him, and then felt stupid about it when Yosuke raised an eyebrow at her.

"And…what about Dad?" asked Nanako, steeling herself for the blow. "Do I have to tell him? Or, are you going to tell him?"

"That? Nah." Yosuke shook his head. "I feel like that'd be overkill, maybe? Yu will probably give you a hard enough time for one night. No reason to get your Dad involved. But, hey, seriously, if I get another call from you in the middle of the night like this, I am totally going straight to Dojima-san. This whole 'just between you and me' thing is a onetime only offer, understand? Nobody wants to see you get hurt, Nanako-chan. Hell, we've watched you almost die twice. There's no way any of us are letting you start drinking and acting like a little punk. It's not happening. Not a chance. So…"

Nanako nodded. "I promise. I…I won't do it again. I mean it. Don't worry."

"Yeah? Okay. Well, that's that, then," muttered Yosuke, as they pulled up outside of the Dojima residence. "Go get whatever sleep you still can. I gotta go, I got work in the morning."

After climbing out of the car, Nanako turned around and gave Yosuke her best attempt a grateful smile. "Thank you," she whispered. "I don't know what I'd have done if you didn't come. I was really scared."

"Good." Yosuke shrugged. "Scared is good. Uh…I think. Yeah, guess I'm not so great at this discipline thing, maybe, but I think scared is how you're supposed to feel when you screw up like that. Anyway." He waved that away. "See you soon, Nanako-chan. 'Night."

Just as Nanako was turning away, and Yosuke was preparing to close the car door, he paused and called out to her.

"Uh, hang on a second. That thing I said about how I'd tell your Dad if you called me again?"

"Yes?" asked Nanako, stopping on the threshold of the house.

"You should still call me. Like, if you get into trouble. Not saying I won't call your dad, but…call me anyway. You know. If you need me. It's not like I wouldn't show up, you know?"

He gave her one last sleepy wave, then closed the door and started driving off down the street. Nanako watched him, full of complicated emotions but relieved beyond belief to have gotten out of that place.

_Yosuke's a good friend, _she thought sadly. _He's good to me, and he's good to Big Bro. He's always been there for us…for both of us. I haven't been very nice to him, lately. I wish it hadn't hurt him so much when we brought Adachi-san back. I wish we didn't have to disagree like that. I wish…_

A little voice in the back of Nanako's mind interrupted her inner monologue abruptly.

_And my curfew, _she thought, _is way too early, anyway. I'm seventeen years old! Everyone else gets to stay out until midnight. How come I have to come so early? I'm not a little kid anymore._

Genuinely confused as to whether that last thought had come from her part of the soul or Adachi's part, Nanako gave up on thinking and climbed the staircase to her room.

**Chapter 4: Aquaintance**

**Author's Note: **Happy New Year, everyone! As of today, I have officially been reading and writing on this site for one whole year! Yeah, weird, right? I joined on New Year's Day last year, apparently.

I hope you all have the most wonderful, enthralling and fulfilling year, with success in whatever you choose to do.

WARNING: There is even more bad/offensive language than usual in this one.

**Four: Acquaintance**

"This sucks," muttered Adachi bitterly. "Seriously, it's New Year's Eve. What kind of soulless bitch keeps a guy in on the best party night of the year? This is no better than being locked up in the city. At least in the clink I didn't have to cook my own damn food."

Cho, seated on the floor, was carefully painting a thick white line along the place where the wall met the floorboards. "If you'd like to go back to prison, be my guest," she murmured. "We can arrange that."

"Uh, no, we can't." Adachi shook his head. "What about Nanako-chan? Did you forget why we're doing this in the first place?"

"Wishful thinking," sighed Cho. "It doesn't hurt to have dreams."

Adachi scowled at her. "Speak for yourself. Sure never got me anywhere. You know, I could have had a date tonight? The girl who works at the bookstore was definitely giving me the eye. Not what I'd call a knockout, but she's got a nice pair of-!"

"That's enough." Cho put her paintbrush down and raised a weary eyebrow at him. "If you can't be respectful, then at least be quiet. I'm trying to concentrate."

For a moment, Adachi actually was quiet, maybe stunned into silence by Cho's raised voice. "Haven't had a date in ten fucking years," he muttered eventually. "You…you are the physical embodiment of evil, you cock-blocking hellbitch."

Cho frowned at the uneven coat of paint. "If you say so," she mumbled absently.

Adachi seethed. He seethed so aggressively that Cho could hear his teeth grinding in the back of his head. She picked up her paintbrush again and addressed the uneven paint coat issue. For several minutes, neither of them said anything at all.

"Guess I shouldn't complain," muttered Adachi viciously, eyeing the back of Cho's head. "How long has it been since you've had a date?"

Cho stopped painting. She took a deep breath.

"Let me guess." She could hear the malicious little smile in Adachi's voice, now. "Uh…a long time, right?"

"I usually work on New Year's Eve," Cho told him. "There are a lot of drunk drivers out on nights like this. I was happy to volunteer."

"But I kinda feel like you wouldn't have been so eager to volunteer if you'd had a date, am I right?" It didn't seem as though Adachi was going to let this one go. "Anyway, I didn't ask about New Year's. I asked 'when was the last time you had a date.' Like, any time. Any time of the year. Come on. It'll cheer me up if your dry spell's been longer than mine."

_I am not having this conversation, _thought Cho.

"Two years? Three years?"persisted Adachi. "Or were you and that Togoshi guy actually hooking up and you just didn't want to tell his wife about it? Yeah, that sounds more like-!"

"I don't date," snapped Cho, getting abruptly to her feet and glaring at Adachi. _I will not rise to his bait, _she told herself, but she was still seeing red.

Adachi's eyes widened in genuine surprise. "Wh-whoa, wait, really? You mean, like, you don't date at all? Man…does that mean that you're a-?"

Cho gave him a look that would have melted solid rock. It was a look that seemed to make even Adachi's nerves falter. He opened his mouth, closed it again, scoffed, and then gave her another unpleasant little grin.

_I am going to kill this man, _Cho decided. _I'm sorry, Dojima-san, Nanako-chan. I am truly, honestly sorry, but it can't be helped. This man has to die. I hope that someday you will forgive me._

"Huh," Adachi seemed to have bounced back already, apparently totally unaware of how close he had brought Cho to the brink of homicide. "Well, I guess I can't be too surprised. I mean, it's not like you dress up or go out or anything. You should, try, uh, makeup, maybe. Lots of ugly girls can look pretty decent when they put some effort into it. Not that your attitude's likely to get you very far. Hey, don't feel too bad, though. There are some guys out there that really like getting pushed around by a bitch. Not my thing, really, but that doesn't mean you're shit out of luck. And hey most guys will put up with anything for a good fuck. Not that you'd know anything about that, I guess."

Cho was waiting for her anger to subside. _I will not be baited, _she reminded herself. _There is no reason to let him get under my skin. He's angry, he's lashing out, and he's trying to wound me like a child who's been deprived a toy he wanted. He will not be allowed to toy with me. I don't have to let him get to me at all._

"During our investigation of the recent murders," she began, sitting carefully back down next to her paint can and averting her eyes, "I had the chance to speak with a few of your ex-girlfriends. According to them, you don't know much about what you would call 'a good fuck' either."

"What the-?" Adachi's mouth dropped open, and his eyes narrowed as he stood staring at her in angry surprise. Cho was proud of herself for having scored a point, and then ashamed of herself for having let Adachi draw her in to his little game.

"I'm almost done here," she said. "Please bring me the ladder so that I can touch up the top corners."

Adachi stared at the wall. He shook his head, looking a bit more deflated then had a moment ago. "Yeah, fine," he muttered, walking over to retrieve the ladder. "Not like I have anything better to do…or that you'll let me do. Jeez."

He wheeled the ladder over to her.

"Thank you," murmured Cho.

Adachi frowned. "Everything's so white. It's like a damn hospital in here. What's next, a white picket fence out front?"

Cho opened her mouth to respond to that, but Adachi didn't give her the chance.

"Or maybe we're gonna get curtains, next?" He was sneering sarcastically at her, now. "You've already got your damn tomato plant out there. Maybe you haven't figured it out yet, but no matter how many little homey touches you add to this dump, it'll always be a prison. You're stuck here. I'm stuck here. You can paint and furnish the shit out of the place, but it'll never be a home. What a shame. All your hard work for nothing."

_I know that, _thought Cho. For some reason, the thought didn't make her as sad as maybe it might have done a couple of weeks ago. The word "home" conjured up images in her mind of Kiyoko Togoshi's kitchen, with heart shaped magnets and children's drawings all over the refrigerator and Juro's socks hidden behind the recently moved sofa. "Homes" contained people that you wanted to see at the end of a long work day. When you came "home" you felt comfortable around the kitchen table, in a place where you knew that could share your worries or just sit quietly and eat your dinner while feeling safe, secure, and undaunted by how scary the outside world became with every passing birthday.

_But right now, _she told herself, _I don't need a home. I'm doing things with purpose. I have a goal. For now, that's enough. Nothing else needs to matter right now._

"Hey, "demanded Adachi, "are you even listening? Are you just tuning me out? You've got this dumbass look on your face…"

Cho's phone alarm began beeping insistently, and she glanced down at it to check the time.

"It's midnight," she informed Adachi.

He sighed. "Oh, yeah? Great. Happy fucking New Year, or something."

"Happy New Year," murmured Cho. She hugged herself absently with both arms, shivering a little in slightly chilly living room. She was imagining the last New Year's she'd spent around the fireplace in the Togoshi home, drinking sparkling non-alcoholic cider while Kenji Togoshi yawned and struggled to stay awake.

"Should old acquaintance be forgot," she sang tunelessly under her breath, "and never called to mind…we'll drink a cup of kindness yet to old lang syne…"

Adachi snorted. "Should old acquaintance be forgot? Heh. Yeah, that's funny because-!"

"Shut up," whispered Cho.

"…yeah." For a second, Adachi looked distracted, too. "Yeah, you're right. Forget it."

**Chapter 5: Four: Bliss**

**Author's Note: **This is the last little story/drabble in this collection. After I've posted this story, I'll close this collection and I'll prepare to start working on the first chapter of the sequel.

Thanks for reading, everyone! Let's have a wonderful new year!

**Five: Bliss**

At five AM on the morning of New Year's Day, the Dojima residence was a mess.

Yu frowned to himself as he picked up a paper noisemaker from the middle of the carpet. _This is becoming kind of a habit, _he realized. _We were all here together to celebrate Christmas, and then only a few days later we all came back to celebrate New Year's Eve. It's not that I don't like having all of my friends come to visit me, but I wonder if it has occurred to any of them that we might be able to celebrate at someone else's house? Yukiko's home is much bigger than mine and Yosuke has a much bigger basement…_

He stepped and then almost slipped on a patch of floor that was inexplicably wet, and sighed. Behind him, there were heavy footsteps on the stairs, and he turned to see Dojima stumble into the living room.

"Good morni-!" he began, but then fell suddenly silent as Margaret, looking very slightly less kempt than usual, appeared behind Dojima.

"Uh," muttered Yu uncomfortably.

"Oh." Margaret gave him a hesitant sort of smile. "Good morning."

Yu sucked in a breath. _I am never, ever going to get used to this, _he decided. _I mean, she isn't even exactly human. Is this really okay?_

"Jeez," muttered Dojima, biting his lip as he gazed back and forth unsteadily between Yu and Margaret. "Look, um…" He gave Yu a half-guilty, sheepish kind of look, and for a moment Yu felt as though he were the adult chaperone and as though his uncle was the giddy schoolboy.

"I must be going," murmured Margaret. Somewhat to Yu's alarm, she reached up and planted a kiss on Dojima's cheek. Dojima opened his mouth, closed it, turned pink, and then mumbled something that sounded like "Right. Um. Have a good…day. Yeah. Uh."

"Happy New Year, Miss Matsumoto," Yu told Margaret politely.

He was almost positive that Margaret winked at him as she replied, "Oh, please. Call me Margaret."

After Dojima had seen Margaret out and the door had closed behind her, he watched her through the window for a moment as her heels clicked down the street. Then he slid into a chair at the table, and Yu took the one across from him. Dojima's eyes were very slightly unfocused.

"Sorry about that," he muttered. "I probably should have…"

"It's fine." Yu held up a hand to forestall him, mostly because he couldn't imagine how he was going to have this conversation, and didn't want to try. "It's your house. You don't have to apologize."

Dojima looked relieved. "Yeah. Thanks." He rubbed unhappily at his left temple, grimacing.

"You look tired," remarked Yu.

"Hung over," Dojima corrected him. "You're not a kid anymore. No reason to hide it from you. We were all having a good time last night, I guess. Had too much to drink, and I'm feeling it now. Good thing it's a holiday…"

Yu nodded. "At least you had a good time. Happy New Year, uncle."

"Happy New Year," agreed Dojima, doing his best to give Yu a smile. "Let's…make this one a good year. I feel like maybe I'm ready for a good year. I haven't had one of those in a long time. Neither has Nanako. I'd like to see her smile a little more."

"It will be a good year," agreed Yu. "We'll all do our best."

Dojima nodded. "She used to smile all the time ten years ago, the last time you lived here. I said it when you first moved in, and I still believe it now. Maybe this is our chance to really turn over a new leaf. Maybe we're all gonna be happier, now. You…you kinda have that effect on people. Everything just makes more sense when you're around."

It was a compliment, of course, and Yu wanted to thank his uncle for it. The words got stuck in his throat as he watched the uncharacteristically peaceful look on Dojima's face.

_You can't be serious, _he thought. _Ever since I got here, I've done nothing but turn your life upside down. Without me, your daughter would never have entered the TV world. Her persona would never have awakened, and she'd never have been murdered by the soul of your worst enemy. If I'd never come back here, maybe Adachi would be back in prison by now. My powers and their connection to this town have brought you nothing but pain, frustration, confusion, and grief._

"It's a nice day out today," Dojima was saying. "Don't know why I'm getting all sentimental all of a sudden. Kind of embarrassing. Maybe it's the weather."

_It may have something to do with your new girlfriend, _reflected Yu. _She, by the way, is a non-human, otherworldly figment of the inner workings of my mind._

"I don't know," mused Dojima. "Whatever it s, I'm just feeling better today. The murders are over, and we caught the guy…uh, or the lady who was responsible. Yanase's got her own place, now, and looks like they're gonna let her complete the Inaba transfer. Gotta admit I'm happy about that. It'll be nice to have a partner, again. You've got a good job in town, and a good wife who cares about you. My daughter's growing up…and she's growing up strong. Maybe it's okay to feel good about that. Maybe the worst of it all really is over. Maybe I can finally relax. I'd like to relax. I've been so damn tired…"

By this time Dojima was talking more to himself than to Yu, staring out the window again and mumbling absently with two fingers still pressed to his forehead. Yu could feel a lump rising in his throat as he suddenly realized just how old Dojima had begun to look. The man was only in his early fifties, and had a great deal of life ahead of him, but some of what he'd faced so far had apparently taken its toll. The smile on his face was a relieved, exhausted sort of smile.

_He's the father I wish I'd had, _thought Yu. _More than anyone, he's the man I'd like to grow into. I'd like to give him that little bit of peace that he wants._

There were a hundred things wrong with Yu's world, still. Adachi had been given a pardon that he probably didn't deserve. At any minute, the man could be corrupted again by his power or by anyone who knew the best and most malicious way to use that power and the man who wielded it. Nanako was forever welded to a criminal, and couldn't ever be whole again without him. Much as Yu wanted to believe that the worst really was over, he couldn't let himself relax. He struggled to sleep at night, thinking of all the things that could possibly blow up in his face at any moment.

_Maybe that's it, _he realized. _Maybe of all of us, he really did make the right choice. Maybe ignorance is bliss…a bliss I'll never have. Uncle Dojima deserves it, if any of us do._

"Well, it is a holiday," said Dojima. "Guess I could just go back to bed if I wanted to."

Yu clapped a hand to his uncle's shoulder, feeling uncertain and unexpectedly emotional . "Yeah," he agreed. "You should do that. You earned the rest. Go back to sleep. When Chie wakes up, she and I will watch the house."

"Thanks," sighed Dojima gratefully. "Just another hour or so, then."

As Dojima made his way back up the stairs, Yu stared unhappily at his own hands and wondered about the future.


	6. Part Six: Spread My Dreams Under Your Fe

Title: **Spread My Dreams Under Your Feet**  
Category: Games » Persona Series  
Author: Ari Moriarty  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T  
Genre: Friendship/Drama  
Published: 03-11-14, Updated: 03-12-14  
Chapters: 4, Words: 5,957

**Chapter 1: Essay**

**Author's Note: **Another short story, this time taking place during/after the timeline of **The Wildest Dreams.** This story is, therefore, supposed to read as a companion piece to the **Dreamgirl** series.

For some reason, the older I get, the less I think about the future and the more I think about the past.

That sentiment is what sparked this story. It is, as usual, a restless thing that I wrote while unable to sleep.

**One: Essay**

Nanako slid into a chair at the Junes food court, looking exhausted and annoyed.

"I hate school," she muttered.

Adachi raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!" Nanako slammed her notebook emphatically down on the table, and glared at it. It was pink, with a cat sticker on the front. The cat sticker was smiling placidly. Nanako and the cat stared each other down.

"That's weird." Adachi shrugged. "Yesterday you went on and on about some stupid 'career experience' workshop you were getting all worked up about. I thought you were looking forward to that."

Nanako made a face. "I was wrong," she mumbled. "The career experience is going to be stupid, just like you said."

"Well, duh," muttered Adachi, but Nanako looked so genuinely unhappy that he didn't really have the heart to say "I told you so." Instead he sat and watched her for a moment, until Nanako took a deep breath and began to speak.

"I have to write an essay," she informed Adachi. "It's supposed to be an essay about 'what I want to be wh en I grow up.'"

"Uh…seriously?" Adachi was not impressed. "How the hell old does that teacher think you are?"

"I know! " agreed Nanako. "That's what I said! Why do we have to write essays like that? That's something a little kid would have to do."

Adachi shrugged. "So, it's an easy topic, right? Just write down whatever the hell pops into your head and turn it in. It'll take you…what, an hour, maybe?"

Nanako frowned. "Um…"

Again, she paused uncomfortably, and again, Adachi waited.

"I'm having trouble," she admitted eventually. "It's…it's hard, actually."

"Heh. All right." Adachi reached over and pulled her pink notebook across to him. "Let's see what you've got so far."

He opened to the first page, which was blank. The second page of the notebook, however, was entitled "What I Want to Be When I Grow Up, by Nanako Dojima." It went on to read, "When I graduate from high school, I know what I want to do with the rest of my life. I want to be…"

The sentence ended there, and the rest of the page was entirely blank.

"This is it?" asked Adachi.

Nanako looked miserable. "Uh huh…" She bit her lip, and added, "I don't…I don't think I know what I want to do after school. I mean, Dad says I should go to college like Big Bro, and I think want to go to college. Maybe when I get to college, I'll learn about something I like, and when I learn enough about it, I'll know that I like it enough to want to do it forever. That's…that's what college is for, right? It's for learning what you want to be. How am I supposed to know that now? I've never even been out of Inaba. Almost everyone I know is a police officer, and I don't think I want to be a police officer. I don't want to be a teacher, either, and I don't want to work in a shop like Yosuke, so…" She shook her head. "There are other things too, right? I just don't t know yet."

"Uh…hang on," muttered Adachi. "This is just an essay. It isn't that big a deal. It's not like this essay is gonna decide what you actually do for the rest of your life. You just need the damn grade."

"But," Nanako insisted, "I just told you, I don't know what to write the essay about, yet! I can't write it if there's nothing that I want to do."

Grabbing the notebook, she gave it one final desperate look and then shoved it back into her backpack.

"Well, uh…not sure I can help you much with this one," mumbled Adachi. "I mean, I'm a detective, and you say you're not into being a policeman, so…sorry. Looks like I'm not the guy for this job."

Nanako nodded glumly. "I guess not," she agreed. Then she frowned, looked thoughtfully into his face, and asked, "Did you always want to be in the police?"

"What?" Adachi blinked. "Uh…no, definitely not. Being a detective's pretty stupid, anyway. All I ever get is stuck doing is traffic patrol. The real thing's nothing like the stuff you see on TV. There's no firing guns, or running into burning buildings to save super-hot chicks in distress. Occasionally, if I'm really lucky, I get to save a damn cat."

"I like cats," remarked Nanako.

Adachi rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, I don't. Dumbass animals are too fucking stupid to stay out of the trees. What the hell does a cat want to climb a tree, for, anyway? It's not like it needs the birds. It'll get food if it just stays in the house and sits on its ass for long enough. Jeez…"

Nanako considered that for a moment. "Cats probably get bored of being fed all the time," she decided. "They're predators, right? So, they need to exercise their 'predatory instincts.' They need to chase birds and mice, or they don't feel very much like cats anymore. Um…at least, that's what I think makes sense."

Adachi smiled to himself. "Yeah…yeah, that sounds about right."

"And you get bored a lot," added Nanako, jabbing a finger at Adachi. "You get bored with doing traffic and answering phones, so you should understand."

"You're…seriously comparing me to a cat?" asked Adachi.

Nanako nodded. "You like to hide in shady places away from people," she said, holding up one hand and ticking off the points on her fingers "You like to sleep instead of to work. You get scared easily and you get mean when you get scared, and you like to run around chasing shadows for fun. You're a lot like a cat."

Adachi gaped at her. "Wh-what? I thought you were supposed to actually like me! Don't you want to add something to that? You know, something like 'and you're cute, like a cat?'"

"I do you like you," retorted Nanako, "but the stuff I said is true. Plus, you'd be cuter if your hair wasn't so messy and if you didn't have a coffee stain on your tie."

"Uh…yeah." Adachi gazed down at his tie." I didn't notice that. Anyway, some girls like messy hair. My hair says that I'm a fun, casual guy, right?"

He grinned uncertainly. Nanako ignored him.

"Why," she insisted, "did you become a policeman if you didn't want to in the first place?"

Adachi, of course, had been hoping that she wasn't going to ask that question. For some reason, he realized, he didn't really want to talk about it.

_It's not like it's that big of a deal, _he told himself. _It was a long time ago, anyway, and everybody does stupid shit when they're kids._

Still, thinking about his teenage years made Adachi uncomfortable. Nostalgia was an ugly, scary thing that so often dredged up the most miserable hold memories. Some of the worst memories were the happiest ones; the ones that were so shrouded by the forgiving mists of time that they seemed like such shining examples of the perfect life in comparison to the hell that Adachi had been through since.

"Please?" begged Nanako. "Tell me. It might help me start on my essay. I want to know about the stuff that was important to you when you were a kid."

"Uh…look, maybe another time," mumbled Adachi. Suddenly, he wasn't feeling so much like talking. "It doesn't matter. It was some stupid kid reason; I forget exactly what."

_I used to say I only became a cop so that I could legally carry a gun, _he thought. _Think she'll buy that excuse? Nah…on second thought, that wouldn't work. Well, I mean, I guess it's not completely a lie, but still…_

Nanako was now watching him with concern in her eyes. "You look upset. Should I not ask that? I'm sorry…"

"Forget it," Adachi told her. "You're fine. It's not important. Anyway, this essay isn't supposed to be about me. Come on, there has to be something you like to do."

Nanako thought. "I like singing," she said aftera moment. "I had fun at karaoke with Marie and Suzume the other night. I wasn't bad, either!"

Adachi found himself imagining Nanako as a professional rock star, dressed all in black with her hair spiked, and screaming out curse words. He snorted a laugh at this ridiculous image, and then pictured her as a lounge singer in a slinky dress, providing entertainment at a gentleman's night club.

"What the…" he muttered. That image made him feel distinctly queasy.

"N-nah, singers barely get paid," he heard himself stammer. "Uh, pick something else."

**Chapter 2: Assay**

**Two: Assay**

A couple of days later, Nanako and Adachi were back to back in the midst of Magatsu Inaba, standing their ground while Azrael finished off a huge and catlike shadow.

"Agidyne!" commanded Nanako. Azrael opened its mouth and breathed out a tongue of white-hot flame, engulfing the shadow in a ring of fire and wounding it badly.

Enraged, the shadow turned and focused its attention on Nanako. It lunged forward, claws outstretched, and Adachi just managed to pull her out of the way before emptying six rapid rounds into the shadow's chest. The shadow screeched, writhed, and exploded into a cloud of red and black essence.

For a moment, no one dared to move. Then Adachi started cursing under his breath, and sank down to sit on the ground. Nanako joined him, and Azrael disappeared back into the sea of their conglomerate soul.

"We did better that time," remarked Nanako.

Adachi didn't say anything at first. Then he leaned his head back against the wall, and closed his eyes. "Yeah…whatever."

"No," Nanako insisted, "really! We beat it really fast this time, and we didn't even get hurt once."

Adachi shook his head, grimaced, and waved a hand at Nanako, trying to express something that wasn't coming through.

"I'm fine," she told him. "Really!"

"…Yeah." Adachi sighed "I know."

Nanako was frustrated. Despite how much they'd improved at using their persona together, Adachi still got like this almost every time they went into the TV world by themselves. Nanako knew that she should understand, since technically it was her fault that he got the living terrors whenever they tried to fight. She knew that he was thinking at least some about her well being, and she was honestly touched by the feeling behind his panic. At the same time, though, she was also starting to get worried that these panics of his might never end.

"You're a great shot, Adachi-san," she told him encouragingly. "You hit that shadow every time!"

Adachi shrugged. "Takes practice," he muttered.

Nanako wondered if it might be a good idea to distract him from his own thoughts by changing the subject. "Is that why you became a policemen? Because you're good at stuff like that?"

"What? Nah, that's not-!" Adachi stopped, turned, and looked very hard at Nanako. "You're still stuck on that? I thought you said you were gonna drop it."

"Um….y-yeah, that's true," agreed Nanako awkwardly. "But, I was just curious…I mean…"

Adachi sighed. "If you want to know about that stuff so bad, can't you just pull it out of my head? You can read my thoughts, can't you? So? Read them."

"No." Nanako shook her head. "That wouldn't be polite. It's not right to read someone else's secrets without asking. It would be like reading a diary."

"So…you're just gonna keep asking me" asked Adachi. "How is that better?"

"Why," insisted Nanako, "don't you want to tell me? Is it something scary? When you act like it's a big secret, it just makes me more worried. Why am I not supposed to know about it?"

Adachi groaned. "Fine! You win, jeez." He threw up both hands in a gesture of defeat. "Like I said, it's not that big of a deal. If you really want to know that bad…"

"I do," insisted Nanako eagerly, crossing her legs and settling herself in to listen.

"Yeah," mumbled Adachi. "Yeah, I got that. Anyway, I'll tell if you it'll get you stop being so damn annoying about it."

Nanako sat patiently and waited.

"Uh…" Adachi fumbled for a moment, apparently trying to figure out where to start. He ran a nervous hand through his hair and chewed on his lip. "So, I mean, it wasn't actually my idea to become a cop. I was never that into it, at the beginning."

What did you want to do? asked Nanako.

Adachi shrugged. "Who knows? I was like you; I was seventeen and I didn't feel like wasting time thinking about it. I was too busy studying my ass off at prep school anyway."

"But…if you were at prep school, weren't you preparing for college?" Nanako frowned. "So, you wanted to do something, right?"

"Shut up," muttered Adachi. "I'm telling the damn story you wanted, so listen up."

Nanako fell dutifully silent.

"Anyway," he went on, "Uh, like I said, it wasn't my idea. Ginnosuke was the one who came up with the dumb idea of trying out for the academy. I didn't have a better idea and I wanted to get out of the house like hell, so I went along with it. We both got in, and that's how I became a cop."

Nanako continued waiting, but that was apparently all Adachi intended to say.

"See?" Adachi gave her a triumphant little smirk. "Not that interesting after all, right?"

"Who's Ginnoske?" asked Nanako.

Adachi's face fell. "The hell does it matter? He's just some guy."

"You decided to be a police detective because of him! That's…kind of a big deal," Nanako pointed out. "Is he a childhood friend?"

Adachi sneered at her. "'Don't make it sounds so damn romantic, okay? He was just this guy I knew in high school. He was on the basketball team and he had a rich Dad, so everybody liked him."

"Oh!" Nanako smiled. "Were you on the basketball team, Adachi-san? Big Bro plays basketball, too. Oh, but, um, I guess you knew that."

"Tch, I never said that." Adachi glowered at the ground, and muttered something under his breath that sounded like "…math team."

"Huh?" asked Nanako. "What? I didn't…"

"I said I was on the damn math team," snarled Adachi. "I was a fucking high school nerd. I told you I studied a lot, right? My parents were obsessed with grades and with showing my report cards off to their stuck-up friends. I wouldn't have known a sport if it had smacked me in the face."

"O-oh." Nanako frowned "Well…"

She pondered that for a moment, wondering exactly what a "math team" actually was. _It's a team you can be on at school, so…um, maybe it's like a team where kids can do competitive math? Whichever team does the best math or gets the most problems right wins? That…it has to be something like that, right?_

"That's cool!" she decided, beaming at Adachi. "Math is really hard. I'm no good at it. You must have been really smart in school!"

"Uh…what? No, you don't get it. Math team is nothing to get excited about," muttered Adachi. "Anyway, can you really imagine me hanging out with the dumbass basketball jocks? Give me a break."

Nanako thought that she could, but she kept that to herself. "But you must have been popular," she hazarded. "You said you were friends with the popular kids, right?"

"Yeah, right." Adachi rolled his eyes. "Not exactly. I was friends with Ginnosuke, anyway. He was a decent guy, even if he did act like a dumb sack of shit half the time. He wasn't that good at math, so I helped with his math homework, and he hooked me up with some cigarettes and told a few lies for me when I skipped out on my second period class. Like I said, he was okay."

"And…then you went to the police academy together?" Nanako frowned. "But you must have really liked him if you followed him all the way to the police academy."

"Really?" Adachi raised an eyebrow. "Actually, when he mentioned it I jumped at the chance. I mean, hey, his old grandpa had gone there, and so had his uncle something-or-other. He had connections, and it looked like an easy in. I was so ready to get out of my damn house I thought my head would explode. Plus, I sorta wanted to show my parents that I didn't have to be a doctor or a fucking lawyer. That sure pissed them off." He grinned. "So much for their 'little overachiever,' right?"

Nanako wasn't sure that was a very good reason to go to a particular school. She'd heard about a lot of girls from her high school who'd run away with their boyfriends just to get away from their parents, and this sounded to her like pretty much the same thing.

"Um, so, where does Ginnosuke-san work?" she asked. "Did he become a detective, too? Are you still friends?"

"Uh…" Adachi rubbed the back of his neck, then looked away. "Nah, not exactly. I don't know where he is, now. Haven't seen him in a real long time."

"I-I see." Nanako realized that she'd touched some kind of nerve. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pried like that. Is Ginnosuke-san-?"

Abruptly, an image flashed through Nanako's mind. It was the fleeting and morbid picture of a man screaming, clutching at a bullet that was lodged in his leg. Other people were yelling unintelligibly in the background, and Nanako could just barely make out the unmistakable silhouette of Adachi's own hand, reaching out towards the injured man's wound.

Nanako sucked in a sharp breath, realizing that whatever she'd just seen had come from somewhere in the depths of Adachi's mind. She'd heard stories like this before, of course; both in books and in real life. She'd always known just how dangerous police work could be, and somehow everyone on the force seemed to have a friend or a partner who'd lost his or her life in the line of duty.

"Tell you what," muttered Adachi, sounding suddenly tired. "Let's drop it, okay?"

"But…" Nanako didn't think she could let it go that easily. "Adachi-san, is…" She frowned, rallied, and then scooted a little closer to him on the floor. "Is Ginnosuke-san…dead?"

"What?" Adachi turned and stared at her in surprise. "Dead? What the hell makes you think that? Nah, he's not dead. At least…if he is, nobody bothered telling me about it."

**Chapter 3: Essau**

**Three: Essau**

**Flashback – Eleven Years Ago**

Newly minted detectives Tohru Adachi and Ginnosuke Akiyama strolled out through the parking lot of the police station, proudly displaying their plainclothes attire and holding their heads up high.

Ginnosuke stretched both arms behind his head and grinned at his partner. "You know, _Detective _Adachi, I'd say that our first day post-promotion has been pretty damn good so far. Am I crazy, or was Chikako at the front desk totally giving us the eye on the way out?"

Adachi stopped and stared at him. "H-hey, seriously? Chikako? Are you talking hottie Chikako with the lisp and the amazing-!"

"Yup. That's the one." Ginnosuke sighed in self-satisfaction, and added with a smug little note in his voice, "I mean, come on, it's not like she and I haven't been chatting it up for weeks, but…now that we're_detectives, _I think I might finally be able to really seal the deal."

"Damn," muttered Adachi, slightly resentful and a little jealous. "Lucky you."

Ginnosuke laughed, and threw a companionable arm around Adachi's shoulders. "Hey, what's with that face? Like I'd leave my partner in crime out, or something. Come on, I'll make sure you get a date, too. How about Momoka?"

Adachi gave him a blank look. "Who?"

"Momoka," repeated Ginnosuke. "Uh, what's her last name? Endo, maybe? Not sure, but she does the towels and the floors and stuff at the gym. She's got nice eyes and pretty good legs."

"Right…sure." Adachi tried to picture the woman who cleaned the local gym. All he could call to mind was the image of a broad back, a pair of dirty jeans, and a pink dragonfly hairpin. "Uh…yeah, I guess that's fine," he mumbled. Not exactly his first choice, but it had been too long since he'd been laid. He was too far gone to be picky. "Whatever."

"Yeah, it'll be great," agreed Ginnosuke confidently. "She's Chikako's roommate, so that'll be pretty easy to set up. Maybe we can try out that new club downtown. What do you think about Saturday?"

Adachi shook his head. "Saturday? Seriously, you haven't even asked her out yet, and already we're going to the club? Give me a break."

"Have a little faith!" Ginnosuke was still grinning. "Come on, you know me! I can make this work."

By this time, they had arrived at Adachi's car. Adachi unlocked the door and slid into the driver's seat, expecting Ginnosuke to join him on the passenger side. After a few seconds, however, Ginnosuke still hadn't gotten in, and Adachi looked out of the window to see what the holdup was. Ginnosuke wasn't there.

"Hey, Ginnosuke!" Adachi got back out of the car and looked around.

"Whoa…check this out." Ginnosuke was standing behind the car and leaning against the back bumper. He waved Adachi over with one hand, and Adachi could see that Ginnosuke was holding his new regulation firearm in the other hand. "You think this gun's more accurate than the one I used to have? Sure looks cooler. I didn't know that going up in the world meant that we were gonna get new weapons, too. This job just keeps getting better and better."

Adachi rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Are you coming, or not? I'm starving. You want some Korean? Uh, we're going dutch, though. I'm still broke from last month."

"Yeah, right…after all the booze we bought." Ginnosuke laughed. "Man, and they say you can't survive on a liquid diet. What the hell do they know?"

Ginnosuke was still staring thoughtfully down at the gun. Suddenly and without warning, he cocked it, spun on his heel, and pointed it at Adachi.

"On second thought," he said, "you're gonna pay for lunch. I'm holding you up for your lunch money, got it?"

"What the-?" Adachi's whole body went stiff. Ginnosuke started laughing even louder this time, and Adachi mumbled a curse under his breath.

"Put that damn thing away," he muttered, pointing at the gun. "Don't be a dumbass. That's not funny."

Ginnosuke shook his head. "Not funny? You should have seen the look on your face!" He advanced a few steps forward, still covering Adachi with the gun. "Come one, what would you do? I mean, if you thought I was really gonna shoot you, what would you do? I bet you'd run, huh? You'd totally run. You'd get freaked out and just start running for it. Tell me I'm wrong."

Adachi could feel the sweat starting to pool at the back of his neck. "Come on, man, put that shit away. You want to get us both sacked? We're still at the station. If the Chief sees you, we're both in deep shit. Let's get some food. I'll buy you a drink, okay? Just one, though. Seriously, knock it off."

Ginnosuke, however, didn't stop. "What would you do?" he insisted. "Pretend I'm the villain in a one of those weirdo detective things you're always reading. What do you do when you're in a one-on-one fight? You remember your training, right? Come on, show me. Let's see what you've got."

"You're a fucking idiot," muttered Adachi. "Seriously, you are dumb as a sack of shit. Just…just put the gun down. One of us is gonna get hurt, and it's probably gonna be me, because it always is. I'm always the guy getting screwed over. Just give me the-!"

Ginnosuke took another step forward, and tripped. He went down, and the gun flew out of his hands. Adachi panicked, grabbed the gun before it could hit the ground, and then reached an arm out instinctively to help Ginnosuke to his feet.

"See?" he began. "That's what happens when you show off like an obnoxious little prick-!"

Inadvertently Adachi squeezed the trigger of the gun as he transferred it to his other hand. The gun went off, and Ginnosuke suddenly bellowed in pain and toppled onto his face on the pavement.

"H-holy shit!" Adachi dropped the gun and sank to his knees next to Ginnosuke. "I..I'm sorry! I...crap, crap, holy fucking crap. You're bleeding like crazy. Here, uh…"

He took off his jacket and threw it over Ginnosuke's leg, pushing down hard on the wound and trying to staunch the blood." Uh, right, yeah, okay. Hold that there. Shit, what's next? The hell am I supposed to do now? I can't, uh…"

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" shouted Ginnosuke, his eyes bulging. "Do something, you idiot! I'm gonna bleed out and die! You fucking shot me!"

Adachi's ears rang, and his head was a mess. He couldn't think straight for long enough to consider what he'd learned in his first aid training. "Uh…damnit…how am I supposed to-?"

"What's going on here?" A uniformed police officer came running over to them from the other side of the lot, apparently attracted by all the shouting. "What are you-? Oh my god." He turned to Adachi. "What are you waiting for, rookie? Call a damn ambulance!"

"Y-yeah!" Adachi fumbled for his cell, and started dialing 119. "Hey, emergency? Yeah, uh, there's been an accident at the police station. What? No, this isn't a joke! I said 'the police station!'"

As Adachi argued with the emergency operator, he could hear Ginnosuke and the police officer shouting at each other in the background.

"What happened here?" demanded the police officer.

Adachi turned around just in time to see Ginnosuke glaring and pointing at him. "He fucking shot me!" Ginnosuke said for the second time. "He was messing around with that damn gun, and he fucking shot me!"

**Chapter 4: I Say**

**Four: I Say**

"…and that's pretty much it," finished Adachi with a sigh. "They were thinking about taking my badge away, but in the end they decided to pack me off to Inaba instead to keep me out of trouble. I guess everybody figured that nothing really happens in Inaba, so it was the best place for an unreliable punk like me."

Nanako blinked. "But…why? You didn't do anything wrong. I mean…it was an accident!"

"Sure it was," agreed Adachi, not meeting Nanako's eyes. "But it was an accident with a fucking gun. Somebody could have gotten killed. Shit like that gets taken seriously."

"But Ginnosuke-san was the one playing with the gun!" insisted Nanako.

"Heh." Adachi gave her a grim little smile. "That's not what he said. As soon as he was done screaming his pussy head off, he told everybody that I had started threatening him with the gun, and that I'd been joking around with it before it went off. Why the hell wouldn't they believe him? I was the one holding the gun. He was the one with the bullet in his leg. It looked bad. And hey, they weren't totally wrong. I did shoot the guy."

"But…" Nanako could feel herself starting to get angry. "That's not right and it's not fair. You weren't responsible for what happened. Ginnosuke-san wasn't telling them the truth at all."

Adachi didn't say anything for a moment. He gazed thoughtfully down at his hands, and when he did look up again, Nanako saw just the slightest trace of the old Adachi in his eyes. There was something empty and slightly desperate about the way he looked at her, and it reminded her just a little of the awful look in Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto's eyes on that fateful day in the TV world.

"The truth?" he asked. "There's no such thing as the truth. How many damn times do I have to tell you? The truth is whatever the hell people feel like believing. It's all in our heads. You make up your own 'truth,' just like Ginnosuke did. It's how the world works. You're not a little kid any more. It's time you figured that out."

For several seconds, the two of them sat in silence while Adachi angrily contemplated his fingertips, and Nanako thought about what Adachi had just said.

She didn't like it at all, and she didn't want to believe it, but at the same time, it was hard to completely deny it.

_People believe what they want to believe, _she thought. _Everyone does. Even me. It's normal to be that way._

"Adachi-san," she said.

He looked up at her. "What?"

"I believe you." Nanako nodded. "I know that it was an accident. You know that, too, so…that can be our truth. You said yourself that people believe what they want to believe. So? We can do that, too. We can believe whatever we want to believe. It doesn't matter what anyone else says."

"Heh." Adachi shook his head and gave her one of his sheepish little smiles. "Yeah, I guess so. Don't get me wrong; it's water under the bridge. Doesn't matter to me one way or another anymore, but-!"

"It matters to me," insisted Nanako.

Adachi threw up his hands. "Yeah, and that's all that counts, right? Jeez."

"Hey…" said Nanako. "You know that's not what I meant."

He grinned at her.

**The next day, at the Inaba police station…**

As soon as school was over, Nanako rushed to the police station, and caught Adachi eating a very late lunch at his desk.

"Huh?" he asked. "What are you doing here? I told you, I'm working late today." He grimaced. "You can blame your Dad for that."

Nanako ignored him. "I finished it!" she announced, plunking her notebook triumphantly down on his desk.

Adachi eyed the notebook. "You what?"

"I finished my essay," repeated Nanako. "I stayed up all last night re-writing and re-writing t, and I think it's pretty good! Go on, read it! Please?"

"Uh…not now." Adachi sighed. "Look, I've got all this work to do before I can clock out."

"Please," insisted Nanako. "It won't take long! It's a short essay. I just want to know if you like it!"

"Jeez, you're needy," muttered Adachi. "Can't you see I'm trying to be an upstanding and hardworking citizen, here?"

Nanako raised an eyebrow.

"Fine, fine, give me the notebook." Adachi took it out of her hands, and opened to the second page. Nanako stood at his elbow and watched eagerly as he read through it.

The essay ran as follows;

_What I Want to Be When I Grow Up_

_By Nanako Dojima_

_I spent a long time thinking about how I wanted to answer this question. It is not an easy question, and I am only seventeen. I think that it is hard to decide what you want to do with the rest of your life when you are only seventeen. If I made a decision right now, it might end up being the wrong one. Lots of people make bad career decisions and end up wishing they had picked something else to do with their lives. I have heard a lot of stories about bad decisions, and I do not want to make a bad decision of my own._

_Therefore, I do not really know exactly what I want to do when I graduate from high school. I am hoping that I will learn more about different professional options if I spend some time in college._

_I think that what I should be doing right now is focusing on what is really important to me. While I was planning this essay, I thought a lot about WHO I want to be when I grow up, instead of WHAT I want to be when I grow up._

"You shouldn't capitalize shit when you're writing a school paper," mumbled Adachi absently. "It looks tacky."

"Keep reading!"insisted Nanako.

_When I grow up, I want to be the kind of person who helps people. I think everyone says things like that, but I really mean it. I want to be someone who can make people feel better, and who can help people stand up when they fall down._

_Most importantly, I want to be the kind of person who listens and believes in people. There are two sides to every situation, and there is good in every person, and it is important to me that people recognize that in themselves and in each other. I want to work in a job where I can help people to learn the truth about how good other people can be._

_I think that maybe that means I should be a lawyer or a judge. I do not know if that is really what lawyers and judges do, and I want to learn more about that._

_The truth is that I want to change the world, and I want to find a job that will help me do that._

For a long time, Adachi didn't say anything. The silence started to worry Nanako.

"Um…is it really bad?" she asked. "I thought it was pretty good, actually. I did a lot of editing before I brought it over."

Adachi frowned. "It's, uh…it's not bad," he muttered. "That last line is pretty stupid, though, and kind of cliché. You gotta put something else in there besides 'I want to change the world.' No teacher in her right mind is gonna buy that."

"Oh…okay." Nanako was slightly frustrated. "I don't know how to say that another way. How do I-?"

Adachi shrugged. "Now you want me to write it for you? You'll figure it out."

Nodding, Nanako took her notebook and her rising disappointment and started for the door.

"You know what, though," mumbled Adachi as Nanako left, more to himself than to Nanako. "If anybody could do it…it'd probably be you."

"What?" asked Nanako. "If anyone could do what?"

Adachi shook his head, and waved her away. "Forget it. Go fix your essay, I have shit to do."


End file.
